A/N: Again, reviews mean a lot! Had to update the last chapter as for some reason it uploaded oddly, and my paragraphs were removed. Well, more action is happening in the story now so please read and review :)

Chapter Three: Penniless Punishment

"No money? What the hell have you been doing?" Yelled Thenardier at

Éponine. Azelma carried a franc, whilst

Éponine was empty handed. She'd forgotten to pickpocket, as she'd been so absorbed in seeing Marius.

"N-nothing, father." Stammered

Éponine. There was no way she was mentioning Marius-her father would make her steal from him. She would never do that.

"I'll give you nothing, you brat!" He slapped her across the face-where she already had a cut. She stumbled, and her face bled a bit as the wound had opened again.

Azelma watched quietly. She wished she'd got two francs, which would have given Éponine money as well.

She still watched from the corner as her sister was hit a few more times by her fathers friends, before being pushed into the cellar. Azelma was too weak to help, but she wanted to. More than anything. Éponine was the only person who had been kind to her for the past year, until they saw that boy. He was kind. Éponine seemed to like him-it seemed different to liking though. Azelma didn't understand.

Azelma was alone doing her 'work' the next day, so instead the men went out whilst she and her mother cleaned. They would do some robbing. Her mother and her ignored each other, contrasting with how her mother used to spoil her but a year ago.

She wondered if this was what Cosette had felt like when she was with the family, and felt guilty for acting like her parents had towards the girl. She and

Éponine hadn't known better though, but her parents had. They were cons, and never knew kindness. All her life, she'd been pretending they were kind parents.

She saw the truth. They were cold and malicious. As she swept around the cellar door, she wanted to let Eponine out. She must be so cold...

Eponine slept most of the time, waking up shivering every now and then. She was only fully woken up in the evening. Her fathers friend Broujon let her out, and slapped her for fun. This stung over her now freshly bruised skin from last night, but she acted like it didn't hurt.

"Little brat, your father wants these letters delivered. And he wants money." She was pushed out of the door, with a handful of letters, landing heavily on the cobblestones, slicing her knee. Blood stained the pavement, leaving a trail as she ran off into the darkness.

The next day, Marius was walking down the street. He saw a red stain on the cobblestones outside one of the houses. Blood. There was some of that everywhere, nowadays. It made him think of the cut on Éponine's face. He felt oddly concerned about those girls, especially Éponine, though he didn't understand why. He looked at the house. A man with greasy black hair and a sly-looking face leered at him. He turned and walked away, wondering how bad Eponine's parents really were.

Little did he know their friend, Montparnasse, was the leering man who'd just been watching him.