Éponine had never been more grateful for a weekend, hoping to have a moment to breathe. Between the work from her classes adding up and trying to figure how to deal with Regulus while also avoiding him, she felt close to losing her mind. Thankfully, she hadn't let her school work go neglected with the surrounding drama, using it as a distraction from the world around her. However, she couldn't ignore things around her forever.

Ever since Regulus had dared to tell her that he loved her, the two hadn't spoken. In fact, Éponine was sure he was doing his best to avoid her. Whether it was showing last to any class or leaving first, or going out of his way to avoid any eye contact in the corridors, it had been a full two weeks without the two of them saying a word to one another. And part of Éponine was happy because she was so tired of fighting with Regulus. It brought her back to the time where she had to spend the summer at 12 Grimmauld Place and in the beginning, all they could do in the presence of each other was argue.

After making so much progress over the course of that summer, along with the first half of that term, their current situation was twenty step backs from where they had started. And she wasn't sure if Regulus was fully to blame either.

If it had been up to her, Éponine would have grabbed Regulus by the shoulders and shaken him until he realised he was in the wrong. But, of course, nothing was ever that simple, that would make life too easy.

Truth be told, Éponine did believe Regulus when he told her he loved her, but she wasn't willing to let him hold that over her head. She wished he hadn't told her such a thing because it only left her feeling more conflicted than before if that was even possible.

First, it had been poor timing for him to confess such a thing. Her anger had certainly carried over from their duel in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom as he had managed to hit her with the pimple jinx. For a few moments in time, Éponine had relieved through one of her biggest insecurities and although it was likely unintentional, it seemed like a low blow from Regulus. He, above all, knew how much Éponine had struggled with her image over the years.

Then he accused her of not caring when that was the furthest thing from the truth. Of course, she still cared about all of them, if she didn't, she would have given up a long time ago. However, it left her to question if she was going about things the right way when it came to handling the situation. She had hoped over the years that she would be able to make Regulus realise where he was wrong, where his parents were wrong with the whole foundation of Toujours Pur.

But it seemed the only thing she was good at was pushing him away even further.

Regulus had gone from trying to find any opportunity to talk to her, to coming up with any excuse to avoid her. It felt like their sixth year all over again and that had been painful to live through once, let alone twice.

And Sirius' advice remained the same in all his letters. He told her over and over that she couldn't change Regulus' views unless he was willing to change. If it were to happen, it would be a miracle, if not, Éponine was supposed to take the time to focus on herself because she deserved happiness too.

In his latest letter, Sirius included a present for her that Éponine started unwrapping as she left the Owlery with Gian that Saturday morning. Originally, she had been accompanying Gian to the Owlery so he could send off a letter to his parents. It was only perfect timing that Sirius' owl arrived with a package for her. Of course, Gian was curious about the contents of the package as he continued to skip alongside as she ripped into it.

The first tear revealed a small note with Sirius' handwriting.

For the cold nights.

Quickly, a smile developed as she opened the packaging the rest of the way to reveal a leather jacket that was now in her possession.

"Aww, nice!" Gian said. "He got you a leather jacket!"

Only, Gian probably didn't realise that it wasn't just a leather jacket that Sirius had purchased for Éponine, but rather one of his own that he had gifted to her. She recognised the cologne that Sirius often used, especially with the calming effect it had on her instantly. Not knowing the intention behind Sirius sending one of his prized leather jackets to her besides it being a kind gesture, she slipped it on in the corridor.

"You look good in leather, Nin," Gian told her, "you should wear it more often. I think Sirius would definitely like that-"

"Gian!"

She went to scold him, noting his cheeky tone regarding Sirius, but as she went to turn to him, she could see that they were no longer alone in the corridors.

Down the way, Mulciber was sitting by himself on the floor, staring into the distance.

As they grew closer, Mulciber appeared to be talking to himself, and his hands were shaking, barely able to settle in his lap. Éponine looked over at Gian, who carried the same concerned expression before he looked up at her.

"Nin, don't-"

However, Éponine didn't listen as she pulled away from the grip Gian had on her sleeve and made her way over to Mulciber. He didn't acknowledge her approach, still staring ahead as he shook his head back and forth. When she looked back to Gian, he motioned her to come back to him, thinking nothing but trouble would come from the situation.

"Go get Regulus," she told him.

Clearly, that was not the answer that Gian was hoping for as his screeching "WHAT?!" echoed in the corridor, but Éponine gave him a look before telling him to tell Regulus that it concerned one of his best friends. She knew that Gian wasn't comfortable with any confrontation involving Regulus, but she wasn't thinking anything through at the time, especially when she saw Mulciber's bloody lip.

Gian saw it too finally and took it as a cue to hurry as he ran off. Dropping down beside Mulciber, Éponine pulled her wand and kept it by her side, just in case.

"Mulciber," she said his name gently, "Mulciber, it's me, Éponine. Can you hear me?"

At the sound of his name being called, he brought himself to look over at her and Éponine could see the full extent of his injuries. From a bloodied lip to a bruised eye, it was obvious that he had been involved in a scuffle of sorts, but with who?

"Mulciber, who did this to you?" Éponine asked him. "Who-"

"He was right to do it," Mulciber answered her, " I deserved it. I was being foolish. I needed to learn my lesson. He was right to do it, Éponine."

"Who was right to do this? Mulciber, this isn't right, look at you. You're bleeding and-"

"I DESERVED IT!"

Éponine quickly rose to her feet after he yelled in her face, fearful that he would lash out further if given the chance. However, he only started sobbing seconds later, covering his face with his hands. And after a moment or so, he looked up at Éponine, tears streaming down his face.

"Why can't I learn my lesson?" he questioned her. "They told me to stop, they told me it was wrong, but I can't seem to register it in my fuckin' head!"

He started to punch the top of his head aggressively until Éponine intervened, using the full body-binding spell on Mulciber to get him to stop hurting himself. He slumped and then fell over with no additional support. It didn't stop him from crying though as she could still hear him sobbing.

"Mulciber, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. You need to tell me more. What's wrong? Who told you it was wrong? What lesson?"

She released him after a minute, hoping for an answer and she finally managed to get one.

"It's not fair when you fall in love with someone you can't have, is it?" he whispered to her as she helped him sit up. "I mean, look at poor Reggie, he fell in love with you, a blood-traitor. But I didn't do that, I didn't fall in love with a blood-traitor. I fell in love with my best friend and I'd like to think he fell in love with me too. Even if it hurts, I'd like to think he felt the same way. I was so stupid to think it wouldn't be a problem. We're both purebloods, aren't we? Toujours Pur, right?"

It didn't Éponine long to figure out what Mulciber was talking about and it all clicked at once.

"Avery, you're talking about him," she said, " that's who you fell in love with. And...and..."

"They were going to make me marry Emmarentia, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it. And I thought if Avery and I spoke to our parents, told them that we were in love that it would be okay. It would be okay because we're purebloods! We have always done what we've been told! But no, it didn't work out that way. Instead, we were punished because we were wrong."

"No, you weren't-"

"Yes! Yes, we were! And I'm still wrong, but I don't know what to do. I'm a poof, he told me that. I'm a poof but I can't stop! I can't...I don't want to feel like this, Éponine. I shouldn't feel like this. How come it was so easy for him to forget about me, but I can't forget about him. I deserved this, I'm too weak, that's what he told me."

"Avery did this to you," Éponine's voice trembled. "He hurt you-"

"No, he's helping me, Éponine! He's helping me learn not to be like this. We can't all be like Regulus, can we? No! He can reject marriages all he wants, that's the privilege of the Black family. But I don't get that privilege, I need to be thankful for what has been given to me. I need to get better or I'll end up like you."

Éponine shivered as Mulciber said the last part, making it sound like it was so terrible to end up like her. Living a life where she was free to love who she wanted and make her own decisions with supportive people?

"What's going on here?"

Looking over, Gian had returned with Regulus in tow, who looked mighty confused at the entire situation. It was odd enough to be approached by Gian, but coming upon the scene of Éponine in the company of Mulciber was enough to probably make his head spin. She went to tell Regulus that it was Avery that had attacked Mulciber, but as she went to open her mouth, she felt Mulciber grab her hand and squeeze it for a second.

She peered over her shoulder, only to witness his eyes begging her not to say anything. Probably fearful that his punishment would only get worse if others were to find out.

"Take him to the Hospital Wing," Éponine said to Regulus. " He...he fell down the stairs. I think he's a bit disoriented. "

Saying nothing else, Éponine brushed by Regulus as she walked over, leaving him to handle Mulciber while Gian ran after her.

As they were a safe distance away, Gian looked up at Éponine to see the troubled expression lacing her features. Her furrowed brow, the frown, and the way she shook her head every so often, was enough for him to question what he had missed on.

"He didn't fall down the stairs, did he, Nin?" Gian asked her. "What happened to him?"

Mulciber had fallen in love with his best friend and when he decided to tell his parents, they obviously didn't take it well. More than likely, he had been punished severely for liking someone of the same sex, thinking it would ruin their family reputation. And it was very probable that Avery had been met with similar punishment. 

And while Avery seemed to take it upon himself to distance any interaction with his once best friend, Mulciber hadn't been so willing. In fear, Avery had resulted to violence to get Mulciber to stay away from him.

All the pain and suffering, just to satisfy Toujours Pur.

But it wasn't her story to tell. She feared for Mulciber, but he clearly didn't want her to say anything, not even to Regulus and she couldn't bring herself to betray him at that moment.

"I don't know, Gian," she shrugged as they reached the Slytherin Common Room, " I don't know."

Excusing herself to the girls' dorm, Éponine left Gian's side and made her way to her bed. Toulouse leapt onto the bed as well as she flopped back, her head landing on her pillow.

Suddenly, the scent of Sirius' cologne hit her nose and she realised she was still wearing the jacket. She took to wrapping it around her body tightly before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

'For the cold nights,' his note had said.

But it should have said 'for the long days.'

A/N: