[Chapter Eleven]

Emmarentia Zabini was a goddess among mortals, an untouchable force among men and women, even if she was only the same age as Éponine. From the time she was thirteen years old, the girl had started building a reputation for herself that would not be easily diminished by anyone or anything. Éponine hardly interacted with the girl, even though they were in the same year in Hogwarts and in the same House, mainly because Éponine found herself so incredibly intimidated by her. The way Emmarentia carried herself through the corridors, her head held up high, her posture not hunched over in the slightest, she was the human embodiment of power and Éponine did not want to get in her way. Not to mention, her parents warned her from the stories they had overheard to be wary of the Zabini girl.

It was said back when she turned thirteen years old, Emmarentia had taken to killing her own father. Apparently, within their household, there had been a domestic dispute between her parents that turned violent and resulted in her father placing his hands on Emmarentia's mother. But not only placing his hands on the woman, practically strangling her, it didn't come off as a surprise to most as many claimed the man had a terrible temper with matching strength. Emmarentia had been a witness to it all and to save her mother, she took her father's wand and blasted the man out the nearest window, ultimately sending him spiralling to his death as he snapped his neck in the outside gardens. 

Her mother was widowed but in Emmarentia's eyes, her mother was free, but there was one last step. She encouraged her mother to take back her maiden name Zabini and Emmarentia would do the same, freeing themselves from the man that had brought about so much pain to them. Éponine marvelled at such a tale, not sure it was entirely true until it was confirmed in the Daily Prophet, from that point on, Emmarentia had created a name for herself. It probably wasn't her intention to receive so much attention for her actions, but she wasn't complaining either. Her mother was able to recover and the two of them were living quite the happy life together in their home. 

Éponine had to admit, just standing in front of the girl had left her feeling smaller than usual as Emmarentia carried such a presence. Never in a million years would she have believed that Emmarentia would want to carry a conversation with her, although the topic was less than desirable. 

The girl watched as Éponine reached a hand to touch part of her back before looking up at her again.

"My backbone is there," Éponine whispered, looking quite confused, but it only made Emmarentia chuckle before shaking her head.

"I'm not talking about your physical backbone, I'm talking your mental and emotional one. The one that doesn't let people walk all you, Éponine."

Averting her gaze, Éponine swallowed nervously before looking out the nearest window, of course, it was just her luck that as she looked outside that she saw Regulus talking with Avery and Mulciber. She suddenly felt trapped in place, with no easy escape, leaving her to face Emmarentia, even if she was uncomfortable with the conversation. 

"You see, this is the perfect example of what I am talking about," Emmarentia said lifting her hand and motioning it over Éponine. "You're uncomfortable right now and yet, you won't say anything, will you? You'll just stand there because that's what you think is expected of you. You're supposed to be the good little girl that does whatever Mummy and Daddy tell you so that you make a good impression. But I'll be the first one to tell you, Éponine, you're not making a good impression. You're making a weak one."

"I-I-I am?"

"By far."

Emmarentia walked over and linked arms with Éponine to start leading her away from the scene where all the adults were, not that anyone seemed to notice since they were so wrapped up in themselves. They walked down one of the hallways before making their way outside, where Emmarentia sat on the edge of one of the stone walls with Éponine standing directly in front of her. With the sunlight casting a warm glow over Emmarentia, she looked even more immortal in those moments. 

Her dark skin looked so soft to the touch that Éponine fell into the trance of wanting to run her fingertips over the smoothness, in hopes that it would rub off on her. The darkness of her eyes was alluring to all those that gazed into them for too long and Éponine lost track of time for a few minutes. The gentle breeze outside added to the wildness that was Emmarentia's tight curly hair, tossing it around as it would direct the long blades of grass in a field. She was absolutely stunning and to those allowed in her presence, they were practically left paralysed, making them easy prey. 

However, Emmarentia was not a predator when it came to Éponine, she did not see the girl as prey, even if she saw her as weak. She saw her as a girl that needed help when it came to standing up for herself. They had grown up in the same social circle and Emmarentia was nearly always a witness to how everyone practically pushed Éponine in different directions and yet, she never pushed back. 

Now that everyone could actually see how beautiful the girl was, it was like they all suddenly realised she was a person, but Éponine hardly saw herself as one a lot of them. She was only one to fight back once she reached a breaking point and that wasn't exactly healthy. Emmarentia wanted to teach Éponine the art of asserting herself so that Éponine lived a happier life.

Reaching one of her hands out, she grabbed Éponine by the chin gently and moved the girl's head up so that they were making eye contact once more. If anyone would have grabbed Emmarentia in such a fashion, she would have made their lives a living hell, but Éponine seemed accustomed to the gesture as she merely stood there with a curious look. 

"Do you like me touching your face like this?" Emmarentia asked her.

While delivering her answer, Éponine averted her gaze once more as she peered off to the side. "I wouldn't say that I was particularly fond of it but-"

"Éponine, it is a simple yes or no question, do you like it when I touch your face like this?"

"No."

"So, tell me that."

All the while they were talking, Éponine couldn't help but wonder if it was all a trick and she found herself somewhat frightened by what Emmarentia would do if she didn't go along with what was being asked of her. If the girl had no problem sending her father out a window, there was no telling what she could do to Éponine.

"I don't like it when you touch my face like that," Éponine whispered. 

Suddenly, Emmarentia started laughing, dropping her hand back down to her side and shaking her head. Éponine didn't know what was so funny at the time because there was nothing humorous about what was taking place between them and no one had told a joke in the recent moments. However, before Éponine could even contemplate asking what the girl was laughing at, Emmarentia's hand shot out faster than a striking snake and grabbed her by the chin once more, only this time, her grip was much stronger. Almost immediately, Éponine macked the girl's hand away from her face and took a step back.

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Éponine growled, rubbing the underside of her chin. "Don't touch me!"

"There's that fire!" Emmarentia exclaimed happily as she hopped off the wall and landed on her feet, ever so gracefully. "Goodness, I was wondering how far I would have to go before I heard it."

"Wh-what? What are you talking about?!" Éponine asked with a bewildered expression. "What? Were you testing me?"

"Of course I was! I was trying to see how long it would take for you to tell me off. I asked you if you didn't like it and you practically whispered to me that you didn't. Who's going to take you seriously when you talk like a mouse, especially when you're surrounded by wolves that love to hear themselves howl?"

For several passing moments of silence, Éponine wasn't sure how to respond as she lowered her own hand from her face and stared at Emmarentia. She remembered all the times where people had just felt they were in their right to touch her, even though she hated it. When she had first met Walburga, the woman had touched her face, all the times she was even in the company of Ernest Nott and he touched her face without ever asking. When Emmarentia had grabbed her the second time to get the reaction, the girl got the reaction that Éponine had always wanted to give but was always too afraid to deliver because of the consequences. 

"That was lesson one," Emmarentia told her with a bright smile, " and we've got a lot of work to do. Luckily, once we start up at Hogwarts, we'll be seeing plenty of each other, and it won't be in the company of all these dreadfully boring people. We'll work more on you then."

Éponine was speechless as Emmarentia walked past her and went to head back inside, however, before Emmarentia walked in, she called after her. "Does this mean that you'll actually want to be seen with me in Hogwarts?"

Finally, it was Emmarentia's turn to be caught off guard by a question as she froze in place, her hand holding the handle to the door. A few seconds later, she turned around to face Éponine, who was standing patiently, awaiting the answer. As sad as it was, Éponine had asked the question for a reason, because while some of the children would talk to her outside of school, inside the castle walls was a completely different story. Emmarentia wasn't one of those people as she had hardly ever approached Éponine before, mainly because the girl was always at her parents' side and in school, she always hid away, even when the two shared the same dorm.  But when she showed up for the ceremony earlier, Avery and Mulciber had been discussing the girl, talking about how she actually had a face now that the acne was gone.

The things they were saying were absolutely disgusting, the two of them sounding like rabid animals. After all the horrid things they had said to the girl's face and behind her back, now that the acne was gone, they were suddenly lusting after her in the most horrendous ways. Emmarentia hoped that Regulus would step up and say something if he heard his friends talk in such a manner about the girl he was meant to marry. But Emmarentia's focus was to help Éponine assert herself before she got hurt.

Éponine had a face long before the acne cleared up, she had a voice too, but it had been suppressed by the years of everyone just ignoring her or telling her to be quiet. She had seen Regulus and Éponine arrive together and they actually seemed happy in each other's company, much to her surprise. But as soon as Regulus announced he was going off with his friends, Emmarentia could see the disappointment, offering wear and tear on Éponine's face. Yet, the girl didn't say anything, she just let it happen. She didn't tell Regulus that she would have preferred him to spend more time with her. 

Not that she really had any say over what Regulus did, however, perhaps if she spoke out against him spending time with boys that did nothing but torture her all the time, he would have considered staying with her. But she just allowed him to leave, while she would just stand around until someone told her what to do next. 

"Of course," Emmarentia eventually gave her answer, " we'll spend much more time together. If you'd like, we can even sit on the train together."

"We can?!"

She hated how excited Éponine looked and sounded to have someone in her company as if her sitting in the compartment with the girl was somehow a blessing of some sort.

"Yes."

Thrilled with the idea that she had possibly made a new friend, Éponine eventually made her way inside as the ceremony was called to begin. Everyone had to find their seats and while she entered the seating area, she kept an eye out for her parents, wondering where they were sitting. She could see the Black family, Regulus sitting with his parents and he seemed to be looking around as well. Was he looking for her? Just the thought of it made something in her chest flutter about like a panicked bird searching for an escape. However, her thoughts were interrupted when someone grabbed her by the wrist.

Instantly, she peered over to see Ernest standing beside her, a smile on his face and his long fingers wrapped around her wrist. 

"Hello, Éponine," he greeted her, " your parents are sitting over by me. We're right over there. I could bring you over to them if you'd like-"

Wriggling her wrist and hand out of his hold, Éponine kept her hands far back so that he couldn't reach for them again. "Er, thank you, Mr Nott," she replied, " but I'm actually...I'm actually..."

She was getting stuck on her words, especially the longer he stared at her. She wanted to tell him that she was going to go sit with Regulus, that she wanted to go sit with him and his family, but she couldn't even fully form the sentence. Ernest was taking that as an idea that she was just confused by the atmosphere of the wedding and just needed a little bit of guidance. He went to grab her wrist again, but this time, his grab was intercepted by another hand blocking him. 

The two of them looked up in surprise, only to see Regulus standing beside them. He wore a stern look on his face as yet again, he was left staring down Ernest Nott as he got way too close to Éponine. He kept his hand out, before casting a quick glance in her direction, giving her the hint that it was probably for the best that she take it. There was no sort of hesitation on her behalf as she grabbed it quickly, intertwining her fingers with Regulus'. It brought Ernest to look down but before the man could speak, Regulus beat him to the punch.

"Thank you for finding Éponine, Mr Nott, I was looking all over for her. She'll actually be sitting with me and my family during the ceremony."

With nothing else to say, Regulus led the way back to where he had been sitting originally with his parents. Orion and Walburga told the two to quickly sit down as it was all about to begin, leaving Éponine to just sit down rapidly, only to sit on Regulus' lap. Immediately, she jumped up and moved over to the other chair, only to leave the two of them red in the face once more as the music began playing. 

Éponine looked as though she was about to die and she felt like it too, believing that it was fully possible to die of embarrassment. However, Regulus couldn't help but chuckle in a nervous manner until his mother scolded him to keep quiet. But he really couldn't help himself because the two of them were more than often just a complete mess around each other but in a good way. 

As the ceremony began with Lucius taking his place at the alter first, Éponine found herself relaxing as her earlier feelings of pure embarrassment began to fade. She could see how happy Lucius looked in that moment and when Narcissa started making her way towards him, Éponine was overwhelmed by the feeling of joy that seemed to overtake the entire room. The way Lucius looked at his soon-to-be wife in those moments when they were exchanging their vows, it wasn't like anything Éponine had ever come to witness before. When she had attended the wedding between Bellatrix and Rodolphus, there wasn't anything in comparison to what she was witnessing during those moments. Bellatrix and Rodolphus looked as though they could care less about being there, but Narcissa and Lucius, everything about their shared moments spoke of such a beautiful relationship.

The love and mutual respect they had for each other was easily heard within their vows and the way they looked at each other, Éponine felt that she was just about to melt. When they shared in the first kiss that dubbed them as husband and wife, Éponine could tell that neither one of them wanted to pull away from that moment, but they did have to be mindful of their guests. However, the dress didn't matter because Lucius saw her beautiful either way and it didn't matter who showed up or who didn't, as long as the two of them were present, they were happy. 

As they joined hands and were introduced as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy for the first time, everyone rose from their seats before they led the way out to where the reception would take place.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was left to be a celebration for the couple, with food, drinks, conversation, laughter, and dancing. As much as Éponine had been dreading the summer beforehand, the wedding put it all into perspective that it wasn't turning out to be nearly as bad as she anticipated it to be. She was actually getting along with Regulus, even if their interactions were odd or awkward, she had actually made a hopeful friend with Emmarentia with the promise of sitting with her on the train, and she had been a witness to a beautiful wedding that gave her a feeling of hope. 

Entering the reception area, it didn't take long for music to start playing and for the wine to start flowing for the adults. Éponine spotted her parents once more and went to approach them, but stopped as she saw Ernest in their company, bringing a frown to her face. She just wished the man would vanish so she could have a moment's peace and actually talk to her parents. She was surprised that they didn't even bother with seeking her out to at least say hello. However, it was all going to have to wait as a throat cleared from behind her. Jumping slightly, Éponine turned to see Regulus.

"Well?" He began giving her a look as if he were expecting something. She suddenly became incredibly confused before realising that he probably wanted a "thank you" after saving her from the likes of Ernest again.

"Oh, right, thank you for what you did, I really appreciate it."

Suddenly, Regulus looked confused. "Er...Éponine, I don't think you heard a word of what I said. I asked you if you wanted to dance."

Her eyes widened and a small squeak escaped from her. "You want to dance with me?"

Regulus was turning red, despite not wanting to, he had tried to remain cool and collective but the way she was looking at him and the way she had questioned his offer, he was feeling nervous beyond repair. 

"Well, it's...it's a wedding, Éponine! That's what people do at these things."

"Are you sure? Because no one else is dancing-," she pointed out, only to hear a frustrated noise leave Regulus' mouth before she turned to face him completely. "But I would love to dance...with you."