[Chapter Seventeen]

Regulus searched the compartments to find Avery and Mulciber, knowing they had probably found one together, along with a few other friends. It was the perfect opportunity for Regulus to address everyone at the same time because he was sure that Avery and Mulciber were not going to pass the message along to others. He had warned the two, back at the Malfoy wedding, that Éponine would not be the subject of their ridicule anymore. He had explained to them that even though that he had been guilty of hurting her in the past, that it would no longer continue. Over the summer, Regulus found that he really did enjoy Éponine's company, feeling internally shameful that he had ignored her and teased her for so long. 

He had witnessed the damage he had caused and it left him feeling like it was on him to make things right. When he had caught the nervous look on Éponine's face while Remus Lupin had been looking at her, Regulus didn't decide to ask questions first, he decided to act to make sure that he could protect her from any upcoming harm. Guilt drove him to be better for her sake and his own, even if it did come across as overbearing. Perhaps Remus had done nothing to Éponine but Regulus already had jaded views of the older boy. After all, he was one of the boy's that had taken his brother away from home. He was one that had poisoned Sirius' mind, making him believe different and that was only going to end badly for his older brother eventually. 

Regulus wanted to make it clear that anyone that came to insult Éponine would be directly insulting him as well because he was certainly going to act as if they were insulting him if he heard anything foul said in Éponine's direction. He had no intentions of staying in the compartment for long, hoping that while he was off talking to his "friends" that Éponine had found a compartment to sit in. Although in the back of his mind, he realised that he probably should have had gotten her settled to sit somewhere before going off and leaving her alone. 

He didn't want to come across as if he was hovering over her, watching her every move and studying her constantly to see if she was having a negative reaction to something. But school happened to be a massive weakness to Éponine. Not in the sense of academics, but any sort of confidence would dwindle right away when they were in the presence of their peers. Regulus didn't blame her, but he didn't want to see it either, knowing that he was partial to blame for her state. 

Finally stumbling upon the compartment where Avery and Mulciber were, Regulus could see that he had been correct about them being in the company of others. The perfect opportunity for Regulus to get his point across as he slid open the door and entered.

"There he is!" Avery called out. "We were wondering if you missed the train, mate-"

Avery stopped as his eyes came to scan the front of Regulus' robes and caught sight of the Prefect badge and he wasn't alone either. The entire compartment fell silent as Regulus stood before all of them.

"No, I did not miss the train, I was in a prefect's meeting in another compartment with Éponine."

"She made prefect?!" Someone in the compartment scoffed. "How did she manage that?"

Regulus bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, his eyes narrowing in the slightest as he faced all of them with a stern expression. "By being an exceptional example for the Slytherin house," he said, " it would do you well to mask that tone of yours when it comes to talking about her."

"Oi, Regulus, don't worry," Mulciber chuckled, " we already told them that your little girlfriend is off limits now. We understand, turns out under all those craters from before that she actually has a pretty face. We don't blame you for wanting to pursue her now-"

The speed to be a Quidditch Seeker had certainly paid off in Regulus' favour as he reached his arm out and snatched Mulciber from the front of the boy's jumper, pulling him up to his feet.

"Don't, Mulciber," Regulus warned him with few words, "don't you even dare. I don't care what you told them, I want everyone to hear it come from me."

He released Mulciber, with a slight shove, sending the boy back down to sit before taking to the centre of the compartment. The blessing of the Black surname came with the amount of respect and power that came whenever one of them decided to speak. The other families were practically bound by the word of the Most Ancient and Noble house. All eyes were on him as he stood in front of them, eyeing each student before getting his point across. 

"I have owned up to my mistakes made in the recent past when it comes to how I acted around Éponine. I have seen the error of my ways and I am working towards making things right, not only for my sake but for the sake of the girl that everyone in this compartment has tormented at least once. She didn't deserve what we did or what we said to her. She has a kind soul and I believe that we all can learn something from her."

"Like how to apply makeup?" Another snorted causing the others to wear hints of smiles. 

"Perhaps I should have made myself more clear," Regulus said through gritted teeth. "If anyone of you hurt her, I hurt you. Understood?"

The playful smirks disappeared from their faces, each one of them a witness to what Regulus A. Black was capable of, especially when it came to magic. He was at the top of their classes for a reason and getting on the bad side of him didn't sound like something they wanted. 

"I'm glad that we could come to this understanding."

Several compartments down, Éponine had Emmarentia come sit next to her, having the girl really believe that Éponine was about to sick to her stomach. She felt so weak and stupid, always having people to worry about her in some form of way, or correct her because she just couldn't do things right. It shouldn't have bothered her that Regulus went to spend time with his friends, he had promised her before they even left to the train station that he wasn't going to be embarrassed to be around her and that they were going to keep working towards a friendship. But she couldn't help but find herself frightened at all the thoughts that formed in her head. 

What stopped Regulus from just abandoning her if they didn't even have a sold friendship yet? Her own parents, flesh and blood had practically left her behind, making her someone else's problem. She felt like she was just going to be passed along until someone decided to put up with her.

"Look, Éponine," Emmarentia began after a few minutes, " it doesn't matter if he left you to go hang out with his friends. You don't need him to be around you all the time. You need to make friends of your own and learn to have a good time without him."

"But I want him to be one of my friends too-"

"Darling, in just a few years time, he's going to be your husband, that's pretty much a sealed deal. I'm talking about you making other friends or at least, other acquaintances. We need to get your name out there, you know? People hardly know you exist and the ones that do, barely know your name. The point I'm trying to make is, people should know your name, whether they are your friends or not. Your presence alone should be enough that people know who you are or want to know who you are. It shouldn't be, oh that's the girl that's marrying Regulus Black. It should be, that's Éponine Rosier, the girl that Regulus Black gets to marry. He's so lucky. You should be the source of envy."

"But Regulus comes from the House of Black," Éponine reminded Emmarentia as if the girl didn't already know, " his family has the highest influence on our social circle. Everyone practically follows their word as law in a sense and to marry into that family, it's an honour-"

"Éponine, you're just repeating what you've been told since you were a little girl. Sure, the Blacks hold a lot of power with their name, I get that. But you can hold just as much power as well before you even become a Black. You'll want people dying to have a chance to become a Rosier by the end of it all. Hell, if we really get work done, you won't be taking the Black surname, Regulus will be taking your name."

"Wh-"

"Regulus Rosier has a nice ring to it."

Éponine was completely silent, wide-eyed at Emmarentia's words, knowing if any of the adults had heard her say such things, she would likely face a punishment. It was beyond anything she had ever heard in her entire life and while she shook her head no and protested, Emmarentia certainly knew what to say to get Éponine excited about such things. Not even in her wildest dreams had Éponine ever seen herself with such power, enough that Regulus would take her surname, but it was nice to hear someone have that sort of faith in her. 

And Emmarentia wasn't wrong, Regulus Rosier did have a nice ring to it.

Emmarentia watched for a few moments as Éponine seemed to be having an internal conflict of whether to ignore what was being said to her or the wanting to hear more of it. The girl's eyes started from left to right as she scanned the floor of the compartment as if the answer would present itself after a few minutes. Finally, she lifted her head up and looked over at Emmarentia once more.

"What else could happen?" Éponine asked. "Hypothetically speaking, of course. What else could happen if you help me?"

"Great things," Emmarentia told her. " Great things that you deserve. Here, move closer and then turn yourself to face me."

Éponine hesitated for a moment but decided to listen as she moved closer and then brought her legs up onto the seat so that she was facing the other girl. She became still, almost as still as if she had been carved from stone as Emmarentia suddenly leaned forward. The other girl was on her knees, kneeling over Éponine to get a better look at her. Her fingers trailed through the loose curls of Éponine's hair, her fingernails grazing over her scalp which caused her to shiver from the pleasant feeling of someone playing with her hair. 

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Emmarentia smiled, bringing Éponine to nod her head slightly. "It works well for a lot of people. It gets them to listen to you because they want more. A simple trick, you should try it on Regulus at some point."

Almost instantly, Éponine jerked her head back and shook it. "Oh, no, I couldn't do that," her face had become bright red from the mere thought of running her hands through the boy's hair.

"Why not?" Emmarentia chuckled as she brought her back to her original spot, going back to play with Éponine's hair. "It feels good to you, I bet it would feel wonderful to him especially coming from you. Trust me, I'm sure it would leave him weak at the knees. Let's see, what else are we working with here....you have a nice set of lips as well."

"I-I-I d-do?"

"Yes, you have a bit of a pouty lip thing going on, I'm sure you can make that work in your favour. Have you kissed him yet?"

"What?! No!" She screeched, but that only brought another to rise in Emmarentia's mind.

"Have you ever kissed anyone, Éponine?"

The silence was a good enough indicator of what the answer would be if she actually spoke, but Emmarentia didn't seem bothered by the lack of response as she continued talking shortly after.

"Well, that will be something else I teach you."

"You can teach me how to kiss?"Éponine questioned. "How? Is there a book I can read-"

Her words came to an end as Emmarentia swiped her thumb over the girl's bottom lip. "No book is going to teach you how to kiss, Éponine, it's all about practice."

Éponine's innocent nature left her confused but she didn't dare ask any more questions as she continued to let Emmarentia examine her. The girl complimented her eyes, pointed out the freckles that were sprinkled on her nose and cheeks, claiming that Éponine was beautiful. It was so odd to hear it come from another person, but it was enough to bring her to smile. Afterwards, Emmarentia offered to continue playing with Éponine's hair, allowing the girl to rest into her as she braided the dark curls.

The pleasant sensation of having someone play with her hair had left Éponine to feel so at ease that it left her sleepy. It was early in the train ride, but already she was sound asleep. However, only twenty minutes or so after, Regulus came upon the compartment and slid open the door to let himself in. He noticed that Éponine was asleep, while Emmarentia Zabini was sitting across from the girl, reading away. Éponine didn't stir from her slumber, but Emmarentia seemed to take note of his presence as she placed her book down and peered up at him.

"I thought you were sitting with Avery and Mulciber for the train ride?"

"No," Regulus answered, " I had to speak with them about certain matters and then I was going to find Épi."

"Épi, huh?" Emmarentia repeated with a smile. "That's a nickname. Hmmph, apparently Éponine has more power over you than I thought."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," she replied, " are you going to sit down or are you going to be weird and just stand there for the rest of the train ride?"

A bit lost for words with how Emmarentia spoke to him, Regulus was confused as to where he was going to sit. Éponine was laying on her side, taking up the seats on one side as she slept while Emmarentia had her feet up, looking as though she had no intentions to put them down to let him sit near her. Seeing as he had no other choice but to get into a confrontation with Emmarentia or leave, Regulus made his way over to where Éponine was sleeping. He was about to reach down, shake the girl's shoulder and wake her so he could request her to move. However, before his hand could even settle on her robes, he stopped himself as Éponine looked too peaceful to disturb. 

Retracting his hand back down to his side, Regulus moved away and decided against it. He could find somewhere else to sit on the train, as long as if left her comfortable. Moving to leave, he slid open the door when he suddenly heard Emmarentia clear her throat. He glanced over his shoulder to see that she had dropped her feet down, allowing him to sit as if he had passed some sort of test. 

Walking over, Regulus took the seat as Emmarentia went back to her reading, practically ignoring him. They weren't exactly friends, Emmarentia was a socialite but she had become one by creating her own circle. To see her with only Éponine in her company, Regulus had to assume that Emmarentia had booted everyone out because a lot of people usually wanted to be around her. She was the flirtatious type, beautiful but deadly at the same time. He had rumours about her that left him uncomfortable, not to mention, it was no secret that the girl had taken to killing her father, so she was not one to mess with. 

She was also one of Éponine's dormmates, although Regulus had never witnessed the girls spend time together before. It all seemed to be a relatively new thing that they were spending time in the company of each other. It left him slightly suspicious that Emmarentia was coming seemingly out of nowhere to befriend Éponine, he hoped that there weren't any ill-intentions behind it.

"Don't worry," Emmarentia said, swiping her finger over a page, " I'm not here to hurt her. I'm here to help her. Merlin knows, she needs all the support and help she can get after what she's been put through."

"Why now?" Regulus questioned, knowing exactly what she was referring to. "Why become friends with her now or help her now?"

"I had to help myself before I helped others," Emmarentia explained calmly. "It would have done no one any good if I wasn't happy with who I was as a person and tried to convince someone to change themselves for the better. It would have just made me a hypocrite. But I like where I'm at now and I'm hoping that Éponine can find a place where she's truly happy with who she is as a person. Hopefully, that includes having you around but if not-"

"What do you mean by that? Hopefully, it includes me?"

"Meaning, if you get in the way of her happiness instead of being a cause of her happiness, I hope she learns to drop you on your arse along with every other person that tries to tear her down. Don't think just because she's willing to forgive easily that she's willing to forget. What you and friends did, it didn't go unnoticed by me. Once you all walked away, you left a girl to just remain shattered in pieces.  I was the one who witnessed her crying in the dorms, the long nights where she couldn't bring herself to sleep because she was stuck staring into a mirror, trying to figure out what she could do to get you to all stop teasing her. She might smile now, but that doesn't mean that the pain is magically gone. You have a lot of work to do."