Disclaimer – I do not own Les Mis!

(AN – Hi, thanks for reading my story, this is an AU on Les Mis. The AU being that Eponine and Enjolras were best friends as children. Looks wise it is the movie cast, the story is mostly based on the musical but with some bits borrowed from the brick to add more depth to it. Hope you like it and please let me know what you think! I love hearing your feedback.)

Chapter One – The First Meeting

Montfermeil 1818

Enjolras sat at the top of the stairs of his Grandparents' house, his small fingers distractedly twirling the hair on the mane of his Hobby Horse. Joséphine had given him the toy in an attempt to get him to go and play outside but he wouldn't leave the house until he had seen Mére.

He stretched out his cream breech clad legs that contrasted with the dark walls of the entrance hall and the mahogany of the stairs on which he sat. He placed his small feet in front of him and began to bang the heels of his shoes on the step below.

"Master Enjolras!" Joséphine's plump form came bounding onto the landing behind him.

"How is your poor Mére supposed to get any rest with you making all that racket?" Her rosy cheeks and smiling eyes were schooled into a carefully severe look meant to inspire fear into the heart of the young boy. But he was not easily scared.

"May I see her now Joséphine?" He was already scrambling to his feet, his hobby horse now completely forgotten. Joséphine had never quite been able to resist the young master, especially when he was excited, she waved him ahead with her hand.

"Just quickly mind and don't be exciting her" she instructed his back as he scurried down the hall.

The best room in his Grandparent's house was the sitting room which was adjacent to his mother's bedroom, the room in which his mother spent most of her time. Joséphine had said something to him once about his mother never recovering from her first childbed but Enjolras didn't really understand what it meant he just knew that his Mére often stayed in her room all day. But to him she was still the most wonderful person in the whole world.

Today she was out of bed, as he entered the room she was reclining on her chaise lounge. She was wearing a pale pink morning dress with a cream shawl draped over her arms. Her beautiful golden blonde curls hung freely about her shoulders and her kindly blue eyes, the ones she had passed on to her son turned to him as he entered the room. She held her arms out to him and he ran into them.

"Ma Mére" he cried "are you feeling better?"

She ruffled the curls on his little head that matched her own.

"Yes indeed my little ray of sunshine" she laughed, for the boy was truly the light of her life.

"So young man, what adventures do you have planned for today?" she asked. Enjolras made himself comfortable on the chase lounge next to her.

"I shall stay with you Mére and read to you as you are unwell." He was too young to see the hesitation that flashed across his mother's beautiful face.

"You sweet boy" she kissed the top of his head "but is far too fine a day to waste inside with me. You are to go outside and play and I want no buts or arguments."

Enjolras, although not yet nine, had yet to learn how not to argue when he didn't like what he was told, his mother was prepared for this.

"You may read to me this evening." She said by way of a compromise."

"Ok" he sighed as his mother gently pushed him towards the door.

"Enjolras stay away from your Pére today. You know how he gets when he is away from work."

Enjolras nodded solemnly before heading out the door.

He would have avoided the man completely for he was skipping his way down the back stairs to exit through the kitchen when he remembered his hobby horse. He turned around to retrieve it and had reached the stairs to the entrance hall where the toy lay abandoned when he heard the voices of his father and grandfather from downstairs.

"Well it's about time to, after all the boy is eight years old and it is a wife's duty to produce an heir and a spare." His father was saying.

"Indeed" his grandfathers replied "but are you not worried, after all the trouble she had with young Enjolras and the babes she's lost since."

"The boy has a perfectly good Christian name and I will not encourage him and his mother by referring to him as Enjolras." His father admonished.

"She has mollycoddled that boy and I begin to worry that I have left it too late to reverse the effects. Do you know the other day he actually asked me why the street urchin's had no shoes! As if it was his place to notice such things? I blame her entirely of course she's always filling his head with ridiculous notions and encouraging him to read."

"It does the boy no harm to expand his mind Henri" his grandfather was saying.

"Not with the nonsense she is putting in there, he is a useless child. I have not worked so hard my whole life to build up my firm to have it passed on to a simpleton. And he needs a haircut, he is not a baby anymore it's been four years since we breeched him he needs to start behaving like a man."

Enjolras knew his father was pacing as he spoke.

"He will grow out of it all once he goes to school Henri" his Grandfather was saying.

"Either way she is expecting again and I cannot be cursed with such a good for nothing excuse for a son twice over."

Enjolras grabbed his hobby horse and ran from the house and from the words that stung his heart.

~X~

"Thenardier would you look at Eponine, Eponine you are the most beautiful girl in the whole of Montfermeil." Her mother placed her hands on her cheeks and Eponine beamed up at her.

"Thenardier," her mother called again "Would you come and look at Eponine's new bonnet."

Her father stood from where he had been counting the money they had made in their Inn the previous night.

"Eponine my girl that is the most beautiful bonnet I have ever seen." He said and then added quietly so that he thought only her mother could hear.

'Where did you get the money for that?'

'The brats Mum sent it to us.' Her mother whispered back "I told her the girl was sick and needed a doctor so she sent us ten francs extra."

Her father's smile widened as he kissed her mother on the cheek.

"You are brilliant" he said before turning his attention back to Eponine.

"And so my girl, where are you off to with such a fine bonnet?"

"I was going to take Azelma to play with me in the woods. Mama, can I take a picnic with me for us to have?"

"Of course my love, make sure you take it from the good stuff, don't touch the stuff we feed to the guest's it's not fit for dogs."

Shortly after Eponine had tucked a sufficient packed lunch into a basket and grabbed Azelma by the hand.

"Come along 'Zelma, let's go play"

Eponine was not ignorant to the wistful look that was passed their way by Cosette, she had liked the girl the first day she meet her and they had played for the afternoon. She had been pleased when Cosette's mother had asked if Cosette could stay with them for Azelma was only three and not really much good at games yet. Eponine looked over her shoulder thoughtfully at the girl, part of her wanted to ask her to go with them.

"Cosette, if you've got time to stand there day dreaming you can sweep the outside of the Inn as well." Her mother snapped. Making up Eponine's mind, she would not ask Cosette to come and play.

"Come along Azelma, we are going to have a picnic" she tugged her small sister by the arm and out into the beautiful summer sunshine.

~X~

Enjolras had played with his hobby horse for the good part of an hour when he found himself at the woods he most liked to play in when at Montfermeil. He didn't much like the six weeks he spent with his Grandparent's. When he was home his father spent most of his time at his Firm and he and his mother were quite happy together at home. But when they came here Father took time off work and that made his temper more foul than usual and Enjolras did his best to stay out of his way. He had learnt at a young age that his father did not care for him. He had tried so hard to make his father proud but he constantly failed. Mére was different. She told Enjolras everything he did was wonderful. She didn't mind when he asked her about the children he had seen with no shoes, he had meant no harm but he couldn't understand why they had no shoes when he had so many. He had asked his father first but it had made him furious and he had insisted Enjolras was not allowed to eat for three days. "See how he likes starving because that's what he'll end up like if he doesn't get his head out of the clouds, he'll be out on the street with no food because he's no good to me."

"Azelma, you're not doing it right" the voice of another child brought his attention back to the present. He felt slightly annoyed, the woods was his place, in all the years he had been coming to Montfermeil he had never come across another person here.

'I've been breaking the law for years you're supposed to sound cross" the voice said again.

Enjolras took a few steps forward and saw the girl who belonged to it. She looked to be about five years old although she was currently standing with her hands on her hips in mimic of someone much older, most probably her mother. She had round rosy cheeks and brown curly hair that spilled out behind her blue bonnet, the girl who was being berated was little more than a babe still in a cotton petticoat with a white cap over her mousy hair.

"I don't like this game Eponine" the smaller girl said "And I don't like being Vespasian. Why can't I be Epponina?"

"Because you're not named after her that's why" The other girl said folding her arms across her chest.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

Enjolras jumped slightly as he realised the last remark had been directed at him. He had been cornered by a pair of bright brown and small green eyes.

"Well?" The older girl asked him again.

"Nothing" he said "I was just passing" he would have turned to leave but the older girl was approaching him.

"What's your name?' she asked.

"Enjolras"

She tilted her head to one side and regarded him.

"That's not a proper name."

"Yes it is" He was always defensive on the subject of his name.

"No its not, that's the name of the people who live in one of the big houses. I know it is so it can't be your name."

"They are my Grandparent's"

"Oh" the girl looked thoughtful for a moment "Then what is your proper name?"

"It doesn't matter because no one calls me it except my father. Everyone calls me Enjolras"

"You're very serious" she said with a frown "You know children aren't supposed to be serious right?"

"I'm not serious" he said defensively. The girl just shrugged.

"My names Eponine, pleased to meet you Enjolras" she exaggerated his name and giggled then held out her hand to his. Enjolras didn't often get the chance to be around other children and found that her laughter was infectious and soon he was giggling too.

"So are you going to play with us then?" she was running towards her sister but waved her hand at him to follow. He took a few cautious steps towards her dragging his hobby horse along behind him.

"I do like your horse" she said "You can be Sabinus because we are playing Epponina and Sabinus. Azelma is supposed to be Vespasian but she's not very good at it.' Eponine rolled her eyes at her young sister who simply sucked her thumb in response.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh it's the most romantic story in the whole wide world" Eponine gushed "Sabinus leads a revolution after Emperor Nero dies but he loses so his wife Epponina hides him for years pretending his dead, then they go to Rome and Vespasian catches them and they have to fight him." Eponine paused her childish babble to draw breath.

"Anyway" she continued "I'm Epponina because my mama actually named me after her. Do you want to be Sabinus?"

"Ok" Enjolras smiled

"Well go on then" she waved her hands at him "start the revolution."

~X~

They had played until the sun almost went down. Eponine decided she liked the serious boy although he was a little bit odd. But he did make a good Sabinus, much better than Azelma.

"I better be getting home" he said looking at the retreating sun "Ma Mére is not well so I promised I would read to her."

"That's ok I don't like to be out at night any way, I'm scared of the dark. I'm sorry your mama is not well"

"She is often ill but she likes it when I read to her" he smiled.

Eponine was a little bit disappointed that the boy was leaving.

"Do you want to play tomorrow?"

"Ok I have to see Ma Mére in the morning but I can come after"

"Excellent" Eponine grinned "I'll meet you by The Tree."

The Tree was Eponine's favourite part of the whole woods and was where they had played for most of the day. Many years before during a storm it had fallen down but as it was on a verge in the ground and its roots had been able to cling to the mud so that it now grew horizontally.

"Ok" Enjolras waved to her as he began to leave "I'll see you tomorrow"

"Don't forget Serious Boy!" she called after him but he was already running off.

"Come along Azelma" she said taking hold of the little girls hand and picking up the empty basket.

As they walked back to the Inn Eponine couldn't help but smile, she had the warm glow in her heart of a child who knew that tomorrow would be full of promise as she had a proper friend to play with.

~X~

Paris 1832

Enjolras head snapped up, he was supposed to be writing his speech for tomorrow but he had become completely distracted. How strange, he had not thought of Eponine for years…