[Chapter One]

From an early age, horses had been an intricate part of the Rosier lifestyle, Victor had bred and trained horses since he was around his daughter's age. They were very much a part of Éponine's life, however, she was more interested in riding as she had started back when she was only around five years old. Sitting on the back of a Hanoverian was her escape from reality and when she needed to break away for moments, she would turn to the saddles. By no means was she a professional rider of any sort, it was more of a leisurely hobby. If anything, there wasn't even a need for her to ride, she often found herself sitting in the stables or the edge of the fence on most mornings and afternoons that she had to herself. 

It was currently where the girl was hiding, tucked away in one of the clean and empty stalls with a book in hand. One of the only places that her mother would not dare to venture wearing one of her nice dresses and designer shoes. Mainly since her mother had been spending the majority of the week trying to get Éponine in similar dresses and shoes since she had arrived home. It had been less than a week since the term ended at Hogwarts for the summer and the soon-to-be fifth year was attempting to enjoy her free time. But her parents, mainly her mother had proven to have many different plans for the girl.

It was discussed long before the girl came home, long before she started her fourth year because something terrible that happened to the Black family. They made it sound like a tragedy as if there were a death in the family, and supposedly, there was one because Sirius Orion Black might as well have been dead in the eyes of his parents. Although Éponine mainly found herself surprised that he lasted around the family as long as it did. She figured it would happen much sooner, even before she started Hogwarts as she was quite observant of the family from a young age. 

When Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor back in his first year, she watched the entirely family shift in their views of the boy. It wasn't just his family, but her family as well, after all, Éponine was set to the marry the boy after she became of age and left Hogwarts. Her parents had nearly become permanently pale when they learned of the boy's sorting. Since the beginning of time, as it was stated, all members of the Black family had been sorted into the Slytherin and Sirius had broken tradition by being sorted in the house of "blood traitors and mudbloods."

At the time, Éponine didn't understand that the crime that had been committed, nor was she aware that there was doubt from both families that she and Sirius would wed. Gryffindor didn't hold much meaning for her at the time, seeing as she had yet to start up at Hogwarts herself, but judging by the attitude of her parents and his parents, nothing good obviously came from Gryffindor. When Sirius returned home during the Christmas holiday, Éponine had been present with her parents, only to hear the boy being yelled at for not standing his ground against the Sorting Hat. 

His mother, Walburga spoke so harshly to the boy that it frightened Éponine to the point where she wanted nothing to do with the Gryffindor House, fearful that she would face the same sort of treatment. Sirius was furious and nothing but upset the entire time during Christmas, not even bothering to come downstairs when it was time to open presents. Instead, during a time where he and Éponine were supposed to be spending time together, at least playing together, he sealed himself away in his room. 

Throughout the time, Orion tried to claim that it was nothing more than a fluke and that Sirius was meant to be sorted into Slytherin, it was nothing more than a mistake. However, looking back on those moments, Éponine started to realise that the man wasn't trying to convince anyone else but himself. His eldest son was not going to become a blood-traitor, he was not going to associate himself with mudbloods or those alike. Unfortunately, for the hopeful father, that's exactly what Sirius did. 

Befriending boys like James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, all boys within his house that did not live up to the standards of the House of Black. James Potter was a pureblood, but his parents were well known to associate with muggle-borns and muggles on the occasion. Remus Lupin, while his father was a highly respected member of the Ministry, specifically within the Beast Division, he had married a muggle, making him nothing in the eyes of those that held purity to a standard. As for Peter Pettigrew, Éponine had only heard that he and his mother were too poor for anyone to care what they were about. 

It sounded harsh, especially paired with the tones that the adults spoke with, but like many of the other children raised within those types of family, they figured it was for their own good. There were people attempting to corrupt the wizarding world, trying to weaken their magic with tainted blood. The children were scared into believing that Muggle-borns would only strip them of their magic or their future generations. The fear of losing magic left many of them with cold shoulders towards anyone that their families did not approve of. 

Every year, Sirius' reputation grew worse within the Black family, each time that Éponine visited during the summer, the boy and his mother seemed to host screaming matches back and forth. She was supposed to be there, visiting with Sirius as she was supposed to marry the boy one day, but more often than not, she found herself sitting on the sofa with a book in her lap, reading away. She had to wonder just how long everyone was going to keep up the facade that the marriage was simply not going to happen. 

Apparently, it didn't settle into their minds until Sirius ran away from home. Not really much of a shock to most, but Walburga saw it as the final straw, the ultimate act of betrayal and Éponine was there to witness the woman burn her son's face off the tapestry. 

For Éponine, she didn't know what to truly feel during such times as she never really had the chance to get to know Sirius. Despite the fact that their marriage was arranged before she even started Hogwarts when she did start, he pretended that he didn't know her, especially after she was sorted into Slytherin. At first, she thought it had to do with the fact that she was younger and that he didn't want to associate with a student that was in a younger year than him, but the girl quickly realised their years had nothing to do with it. 

It was so odd for Éponine to face because one of the first time she had met Sirius, he had smiled at her as if nothing was wrong. In current times, he looked at her with pure disgust, the same narrowed gaze that he often shot in the direction of his mother. She honestly didn't care at the time as she didn't fully understand much with his situation, if anything, she was just more thrilled with the idea that she was free from an arranged marriage.

Free to marry who she pleased, well, as long it pleased her family, but perhaps she wouldn't marry at all. 

Éponine didn't voice it out loud, especially around her mother, but she did truly the idea of not marrying at all. Simply spending time around horses, reading books, and maybe going out to explore the rest of the world. After all, she didn't plan on spending the rest of her life travelling back and forth between London and Sittingbourne, only finding herself out of the country when she ventured to school. No, she was certain there were so many places out there just waiting for her to explore and experience. 

Those were her dreams, ones that she often wrote about in the small diary that she tucked into her trunk for safe-keeping. But her dreams were only to remain that as her parents had different plans for Éponine that would dictate her life without her really having a say over it. It wasn't just her life either though as marriage involved at least one other person.

Éponine found it hard to process when she was informed that she was no longer marrying Sirius Black, but his younger brother, Regulus. 

The first word to leave her mouth was simple and quite clear.

"No."

There was absolutely no desire to marry Regulus, just like how she hadn't been thrilled at the idea of marrying Sirius. However, she found herself more opposed to the idea of marrying Regulus, simply because there was nothing exchanged between them, except for the one time that he implied that she was stupid, simply because she didn't understand what he was saying at the time. It was back when they were nine and Éponine was still not fluent in English, nor did she understand it fully. 

Regulus was trying to explain the rules of a game they were to play but Éponine could not grasp the concept as she didn't understand what he was trying to tell her about the rules. He continued to talk in a louder voice as if that was going to help her understand, which it didn't. Instead, Éponine told the boy that she was not deaf, to which he replied that he was well aware that she wasn't that she was only stupid. 

That was one of the last times Éponine openly spoke with the boy unless it was her parents forcing her to greet him when they visited. 

Upon hearing the news that it had been arranged for her to marry Regulus, Éponine felt all of her dreams just abandoning her at once. She honestly couldn't believe it, she thought she had been free from it all. 

But she was far from free to live out her own dreams.

It wouldn't be the first time that she stayed over at Twelve Grimmauld Place, however, it would be the first time that she ventured to stay there alone with the Black family, not to mention, it would be for just a few days as assumed in the beginning. Her mother announced that she would be spending the entire time there, up until it was time for her and Regulus to return to Hogwarts to start their fifth year. Éponine was furious with the arrangements, wondering why Regulus simply couldn't come to her home for the summer, why did she have to make all the sacrifices?

No one seemed to care what she wanted, if that were the case, she wouldn't be hiding away in a horse stall from her mother. She only had a day or so before she was supposed to leave, her father dropping her off at the Black household and her mother was attempting to put together all sorts of outfits that would "bring out the best" in Éponine. However, while her mother wouldn't venture into the barn, her father was a different story.

"Éponine! Éponine, are you in here?" Victor called. She remained silent and still, hoping that he wouldn't do a full sweep of all the stalls, but just less than a minute later, she was spotted. Swearing under her breath, her father slid the door open and folded his arms, giving her a look.

"Éponine, what are you doing in here? You are well aware that your mother is searching all over for you, correct?"

"Yes, Papa," she answered quietly. " I was simply trying to finish my book, I apologise."

Victor stared down at the book in her hand before letting out a small chuckle. "How many times have you read that book, Éponine? Surely you have memorised all of it by now."

She looked away shamefully, knowing that she had been caught. Her reading habits were quite known by her parents and apparently the book in her hand was definitely showing its age and how much she had put it to use. Victor entered the stall and offered his hand to help her up to her feet.

"You wouldn't be hiding out here to escape your mother, would?" He asked and she could head the teasing tone, as much as she wanted to say yes, she shook her head no. 

Victor seemed to note that it was a lie on her behalf but he didn't say anything as he led her out of the stall and through the barn. It was like being led to her death as Éponine just found herself wanting to fight it all. She was sure she could manage a few days in Regulus' company, but the entire summer, that was a lot to ask of her. They were asking her to keep her patience with the boy when throughout the time they were younger, all she wanted to do was throttle him.

They were in the same year in Hogwarts, in the same House, but no one would have suspected that there was any sort of interaction outside of school. Mainly because there wasn't, but no one would suspect that they were supposed to marry each other when their time at Hogwarts came to an end. They acted like complete and total strangers with one another, barely ever acknowledging the other one's presence. Regulus had his circle of friends, or as Éponine referred them to, his lap dogs. His friends followed him around as if he were a god to be worshipped, very much like how the other families treated the Black family. They were royalty and so, they should be treated as such. 

Éponine didn't give a fancy rat's arse about any of that, she simply wanted to be left alone to her studies and to her own hobbies that she enjoyed. She loved most of her classes, like History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures, not the two most popular classes. But the girl loved reading, even if it was about wars and darker material, she still loved reading and when it came to Care of Magical Creatures, they certainly weren't all horses, but she loved being around animals. 

There was her love of Herbology, but Éponine was fairly certain that she simply loved how warm the greenhouses were. She would often try to find the sunniest place in the classroom before sitting down, just to enjoy the warmth.

The Slytherin dungeons were cold and despite the fires going during day and night, it was the atmosphere and the colouring that made it not seem so warm and inviting. However, Éponine prided herself on the fact that they had access to peering into the Black Lake where she often saw the merfolk swimming by. She usually selected a seat in front of one of the large windows, so that she could read. But if any of the merfolk swam by, she would often find herself plenty distracted. 

What hobbies did Regulus have? Éponine honestly didn't have the slightest of a clue because she never really saw him doing anything, even among his friends. They always just seemed to be walking around when classes weren't in session, so was that his hobby? Walking? Was the boy into his health or something along the lines? He did talk quite a bit among his social circle, the complete opposite of what he was like when he was home. Whenever she saw him in the Grimmauld Place, he was silent for most of the time, only answering when the adults called to him or asked him something. 

But with his friends, he did talk quite a bit, always the leader of the conversation at the Slytherin table and people absolutely adored hanging off of his every word. Even if she was in close proximity to the table, Éponine couldn't bring herself to follow the conversation. She often found herself becoming bored and nearly falling asleep into her food, which was why she started carrying a book with her to meals as well. 

She would socialise here and there, but mainly she would rather just be left to read. 

"Does it have to be for the whole summer, Papa?" Éponine questioned, hoping her father would show her some form of mercy. "I would have liked to get some riding in this summer."

"Your mother and Walburga believe this would be good for the two of you. You and Regulus do not seem close and-"

"That is because we are not close," Éponine had no trouble pointing that out, " we are not friends."

"Which is exactly why you are spending the summer with him, dear. You should get to know who you are going to marry, on a personal level. I did the same when I learned I was marrying your mother."

"And you are happy with your marriage?"

"Éponine! Of course, I am. Why would you even venture to ask such a question?"

Before Éponine could bring herself to apologise, the father and daughter were interrupted by someone calling out her father's name. They looked over in the direction of the home to see Ernest Nott making his way over. He was good friends with her father and while he was handsome, Éponine always found him to be creepy although she would never dare voice it to anyone. It was the way Ernest smiled at her and constantly complimented Éponine on her beauty, perhaps others would find it flattering, but considering she was only fifteen and he was twice her age, it left her incredibly uncomfortable in his presence. 

Ernest worked with her father when it came to breeding exceptional show horses as Ernest contained the mares while Victor had the studs. So he would often come over to the household, in which Éponine would hide away in her room. However, during his last visit, the man had entered her room while she was in there. He didn't even bother to knock, thankfully, she was fully clothed and sitting by the window reading when he entered. But she still felt quite violated that he didn't bother to knock. He greeted her and even though she said hello in return, he would not leave. 

As Éponine watched him carefully, he walked around her room, staring at her bookcase and glancing over the titles of the books. He said nothing else before walking out, leaving the girl to shudder. But that same Christmas, he gifted her with loads of books, enough that she had her own personal library. Since then her parents told her to be extra nice to the man, but she was still wary of his presence. 

Standing beside her father, Éponine clutched his arm tightly, holding him close to her as Ernest approached. "Come to see the Hanoverian?" Victor called out to him with a smile.

"Yes, indeed," Ernest said returning the smile, although he looked directly at Éponine. "Good afternoon, Éponine."

She remained quiet until her father nudged her. "Good afternoon, Mr Nott."

Sensing his daughter's awkwardness, Victor told her to venture inside and find her mother. He certainly didn't have to tell her twice as she quickly removed her arm from his and made her way towards the manor. However, she wasn't out of earshot yet when she heard Ernest talking to her father.

"She gets more and more beautiful every time I see her. A beautiful young lady."