Every night since the quidditch match, Regulus felt the Dark Mark burn his arm, but he didn't dare say a word to Éponine about it. He tried to observe Avery and Mulciber during stolen glances when they were all in the dorm together, but they didn't seem bothered by their own marks. It only drove the message home that the Dark Lord knew what Regulus had done and was more than likely, furious with him. With the anticipation of leaving the castle for the holidays, Regulus grew more and more nervous.

He was being welcomed into the home of Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, who had no reason to take him in, other than the fact that Éponine wanted him to be there. All the times where he had labelled them as terrible people replayed over and over in his mind. Thinking they were just irresponsible people that allowed their son and Sirius to get away with whatever they wanted, spoiling them. Regulus had believed it was what appealed Sirius in the first place, a home where he didn't have to follow rules. Only to realise, it was just a home full of love and acceptance that opened its arms to Sirius when he felt like he didn't have a home.

Éponine's excitement was growing with every passing day and when it was time for them to leave to the Hogwarts Express, she was already going over all the Christmas traditions that the Potters had introduce to her over the years. But Regulus didn't share in her excitement, allowing her and Gian to chatter back and forth while he remained quiet for most of the train ride. He pretended to nap at one point as Toulouse settled in his lap.

Every so often, Éponine would reach out a hand and touched the side of his face as she brushed away the hair that fell over his eyes. Or she would pet Toulouse before she muttered to Gian that they should whisper while he rested.

All the while, Regulus thought about his parents and how it would be the first Christmas he didn't spend with them. His mother had said horrible and nasty things about Éponine but he was sure Walburga didn't mean it. More than likely, she was just saying awful things because she was hurt by the betrayal of her youngest son. She had done something along the same lines when Sirius had left home. And his father, he knew Orion was hurting the most out of the situation. He had always been more of the one to wear his heart on his sleeve, first practically mourning over Sirius and then Éponine, he didn't want to know the state his father was in currently.

But he did know that in order to keep up with appearances and pretend that everything was alright, Walburga and Orion wouldn't be home for Christmas. More than likely, they would be attending several hosted parties to show that they weren't bothered by their son's betrayal, they were too strong for such emotions.

It left Regulus with the idea that he knew Éponine wasn't going to like.

At one point, Gian excused himself to use the toilet before they reached King's Cross Station. Regulus opened one eye as he heard the compartment door slide over and as soon as the coast was clear, he sat up. Éponine was slightly startled by how abruptly he appeared to wake up, but before she could as if he had a nightmare, Regulus moved to sit next to her across the way.

"Listen, I know you're not going to like this," he began, instantly noticing the worried expression that appeared on her face, " but when we get to King's Cross Station, I'm not going to go with you to the Potters right away."

"Regulus, what are you talking about?" she asked him. "I know you're nervous about going, but I promise, they'll be more than nice to you. I-"

"It's not that, Éponine," Regulus reassured her, he had no doubt that the Potters would treat him kindly. "It's something else. I have other matters to tend to. As I said, you're not going to like this, but...I'm going to go back to Grimmauld Place."

"WHAT?!"

Suddenly, she was up on her feet, standing over him, with an incredulous look, safe to say that she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Regulus mirrored her actions by standing up as well but taking her hands in his.

"Before you get upset, it's not what you think," Regulus said, "I'm not going back there to see them or even talk to them. My parents won't be there, they'll be at Christmas parties, probably staying with other family members. I just want to get in there to do a couple of things."

Éponine pulled her hands away from him and folded her arms. " How can you be sure that they're not there and what do you want to do there? Regulus, I don't understand-"

"I want to leave a letter for my father, Éponine," he sighed, " and before you tell me that I can just send an owl, I know I can. But I want to put it in a place where I know he'll read it and not have my mother rip it up out of anger. I think he has the potential to actually change his views too. If not, so be it, but I'm willing to try one last time. I want to gather a few things from my room if they're still there and more importantly, I want to get Kreacher."

"Kreacher?"

Her expression softened at the mention of the house-elf but she still did not appear convinced. The train was slowing as they grew closer to the station and Gian was returning but as the boy went to open the compartment door, Éponine pulled out her wand and closed it over again. She motioned Gian to give them five minutes before pulling the shade down to give them some privacy before turning her attention back to Regulus.

"Regulus, do you know how this sounds?" she asked him softly. "Why didn't you say something sooner? Why wait until now to make these plans?"

"I've been thinking about it most of the ride," he admitted, " just wasn't sure how to go about it. Look, if you don't believe me, you can come with me. We'll get Kreacher, I'll leave the letter and then we'll go right to the Potters, I promise. If my parents are there, we won't even bother going in. We'll just leave-"

"I'm not going back there," Éponine said with a shake of her head, " I can't...I won't go back there, Regulus. And I don't think you should go back there either. I know you care about Kreacher, but what makes you think he'll even leave with you? He is loyal to your parents-"

"He's more loyal to me and I only offered you to come with me because I know you don't fully trust me."

"I do trust you! What I don't trust, is things going smoothly like you have it planned out in your head. What if your parents see you? What if they try to stop you? What if they order Kreacher to stop you and he's not as loyal to you as you believe? What if something happens to you, Regulus?"

"I can handle this, Éponine. I'll offer it once more for you to come with me..."

Éponine stared down at the hand he offered her to take, if she took it, it meant that she would go with him. But she had no desire to head back to the Grimmauld Place, there was nothing she wanted to say or do there. At the same time, she feared Regulus going back there as well, knowing that anything was possible. However, there was something else, gnawing at the back of her mind.

"And miraculously he came to his senses. After you've been trying to get him to talk to you for over a year. Doesn't that seem suspicious to you? So, what? He has you fall in love with him again and then he starts manipulating you to go right back to them. Don't be surprised when that starts happening..."

Sirius' voice echoed in her mind, reminding her of what he said back in Hogsmeade.

"Let's see what happens in December, Nin. Right now, it's easy to play off this little fantasy where everything is alright. But when it's time to leave the castle and that Dark Mark is activated, will he go with you or will he go back home to them?"

Without realising what she was doing, Éponine reached out and grabbed Regulus' left hand, pulling it forward and then pulling back his sleeve. His eyes followed her gaze, watching as she looked over the Dark Mark on his arm. It remained faded and red as it always looked and she couldn't help but sigh in relief before she dropped his hand. When she peered up at him, she could see the frown on his lips as he pulled his sleeve back down.

"So, you'll get Kreacher and some of your belongings, leave the letter and then you'll leave? That's it, no other plans?"

Regulus shook his head.

Running her hand through her hair, Éponine nodded her head. "Alright, well, how about this, we'll meet in an hour at the Leaky Cauldron? From there, we can go to Euphemia's and Fleamont's, alright? I'll talk to them when we get to the station. Just promise me at the first sign of trouble, you get out of there, Regulus. Don't try to be a hero, don't try to reason with anyone, just get out of there."

When they arrived at the station, Regulus didn't like how tightly Éponine hugged him because the hug felt like she would never seem him again. Already he was feeling terrible that she had dared to expose the mark on his arm once again as if she expected to see it activated and that was the real reasoning behind him leaving her at the station. It was clear that no matter the love between them, Éponine still had her doubts and even though it hurt him, Regulus couldn't blame her.

He still had to prove himself and already, he wasn't giving off the best impression by telling her he was going back to Grimmauld Place. But he hoped that when he showed up to the Leaky Cauldron, hopefully with Kreacher in tow, Éponine and maybe even Sirius would be more willing to believe in him.

The Hogwarts Express came to a halt and Éponine collected Toulouse in her arms, including her bag that she placed over her shoulder. She looked at Regulus before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek before telling him that she would see him at the Leaky Cauldron later. When she opened the door, Gian was standing on the other side, a playful smirk on his face as he mentioned something under the lines of "ooh la la" while waggling his brow at Éponine. She gently pushed him along before leaving Regulus behind.

When he finally emerged from the train, he quickly spotted Éponine in the distance, along with Gian, standing in front of Euphemia and Fleamont. They seemed so happy to see her, pulling her into a tight hug before they started looking around. Regulus hurried out of sight and realised it would be best to just apparate to get the job done as fast as possible.

Arriving at 12 Grimmauld Place, Regulus took a deep breath, knowing he had to anticipate the possibility of his parents being home. If they were, he had to make a quick getaway because he knew they would try to do everything in their power to keep him there, in hopes of reasoning with him. As he approached, Regulus kept his wand drawn at his side before he entered. With the door open, he quickly listened to see if anyone was approaching. It remained quiet, leaving him to test things out further.

"Hello? Hello?!"

There was no answer and Regulus wondered if his parents had decided to take Kreacher with them to tend to their needs while they were out. He slowly entered the home, carefully tiptoeing around while keeping an ear out for any suspicious noise. When all seemed clear, he made his way to his father's study passing through the sitting room.

"Going somewhere, Regulus?"

Regulus froze in his tracks at the sound of the voice coming from behind him. He turned around a moment later to see Bellatrix, settled on one of the sofas, looking right at him.

"Bell-"

Suddenly, Regulus found himself knocking back into the nearest armchair as Bellatrix rose to her feet and came to stand over him.

"We need to talk, little cousin."

A/N:

Me trying to figure out the maths behind everyone's birthday in this damn universe:

I realised that I just ignored birthdays existing and stuff, so, you know....from this point on until I go back and edit, Regulus and Éponine are currently seventeen, Regulus' birthday being near the end of December and Éponine's being in January. Okay, cool.