A/N- The dress is the one Eponine wears to the ball.
Mimi
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*Enjolras POV*
"Eponine! Are you ready to go? The carriage is here." I called up the stairs.
"Almost."She called back.
Cosette had arrived a few hours ago to come and help Eponine get ready for the ball. Gavroche and I were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.
"Gavroche, stop pulling at your collar." I said to the boy, who was pulling at his shirt.
"But it's too tight and itchy. I don't like it." He whined.
"Well you don't have a choice. We have to wear these clothes or else Jolys parents will throw us out of the ballroom." I said.
"Why are they so fancy?"
"Because they're aristocrats. They have and image to uphold." I explained.
"How do you know?"
"My mother told me a few years ago." I replied.
"Enjolras, we're going to be late." I heard Eponine say behind us. I turned to face her and gasped.
Eponine was wearing a long, blue dress, decorated with black lace on the sleeves and bodice. Her hair was done up in a fancy bun with a light blue ribbon. She looked absolutely stunning.
"You look beautiful." I said, making her blush. "I thought you weren't able to find a dress."
"Cosette brought it this morning. She saw it as she walked up here and bought it straight away." Eponine explained.
"Come on. We'll be late." Gavroche whined.
"We're coming, we're coming." Eponine laughed walking towards the door.
Joly didn't live very far away, so I took hold of Eponines arm and we walked to the house with Gavroche walking ahead of us, leading the way.
Jolys parents lived in a very big house near the Bastille. They were proud supporters of the King and even had a large portrait of him in the ballroom.
"Who's that?" Eponine asked when we entered the room.
"That's the king." I said. She was looking at the huge portrait of the king in front of us.
"If only they knew that their own son is trying to overthrow him." She mused.
"Look, there's Joly." I said, spotting my friend who was standing with Marius.
"Enjolras, Eponine, glad you could make it." He said as we approached them.
"Hello Joly. How are you?" I asked.
"Horrible. I hate this house and its inhabitants. I try to avoid it at all costs." Joly said.
"So, who's on the guest list this evening?" Marius asked.
"Courfeyrac might turn up, Musichetta and her parents are here, a lot of politicians and people like that, I think there are a few guards around the place, including Javert." He said. Eponine groaned.
"Eponine has been trying to avoid him for the last few weeks." I explained.
"Well, good luck avoiding him tonight, he's heading this way now." Joly said. He was right. Javert was making his way around the dance floor towards us.
"On hat note, Enjolras, would I be able to dance with Eponine?" Marius asked, looking up at me for permission.
"Go ahead. I'll distract him." I said. Marius took Eponines hand and led her towards the dance floor.
"Monsiour Enjolras. It's a pleasure to see you again." Javert said.
"Javert, thank you for coming." Joly said awkwardly.
"I'm afraid I can't stay long, Monsiour Joly. There has been talk of revolution in the air and we intend to crush it before anything drastic happens." Javert said.
"What do you mean by 'we'?" Joly asked.
"My men and I. We have more than a thousand soldiers trained for things such as this." Javert said.
"I see. Excuse us for a moment will you?" I said, before dragging Joly to the other side of the room.
"Enjolras, this is bad. We barely have forty men and they have more than a thousand." Joly whisper-shouted.
"I know, I know. I think we should hold an emergency meeting in Café Musain tonight, when this is over." I whispered back.
"But this bloody party could go on for hours." He said. I thought for a moment.
"Let's Stay until about ten and if it hasn't died down, we'll just sneak off." I said.
"Alright, I'll tell Marius and rhen round up Les Amis, you tell Eponine." Joly said. We walked through the crowds towards the two, who had finished dancing and were talking to one another.
"Oh dear, someone beat us to it." Joly said. Javert had approached Eponine and she didn't look at all happy.
"Thank you anyway, Madame. Have a good evening." He was saying as we approached.
"What was that about?" I asked Eponine once Javert was gone.
"He was asking if I wanted to spy on you again. I said no." She huffed.
"We have to have an emergency meeting at the café Musain tonight." I whispered.
"Why?"
"Javert was saying something about having a thousand men and we don't have enough." I explained.
"Are thousand men? Enjolras, we don't even have half of that." She said.
"I know, I know, that's why we're having a meeting. I want to see if the others have an idea." I replied. "If that's okay with you, of course."
"Enjolras, I'm ready to leave now. Round up the troupes and let's move out." She replied.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay? You only danced with one person." I said.
"Of course I'm sure."
"Fine. But first..." I said, out stretching my hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?"
"Well, I suppose one dance wouldn't hurt, Monsiour." She laughed.
I led her towards the other dancers and started to lead her through the dance.
"Enjolras?"
"Yes love?"
"Where is Joly and Gavroche? They were here a minute ago." She asked.
"They went to go and round up the others for the meeting." I said, twirling her slightly in time with the music.
"Enjolras! Eponine!" Marius called, running over.
"Yes?" We said, stopping our dance.
"Come on, let's go. Joly is outside." He said. We started to walk casually outside but we were blocked by a doorman.
"Excuse me,sirs, but where are you off to? The ball is not yet over. We insist that you stay until after the Lord and Lady's speech." He said.
"I'm sorry, but we were just bringing Mademoiselle Eponine outside for a breath of fresh air. She was getting a bit light headed." Marius said, quickly.
"Of course." The footman said, stepping aside.
"That was close. Good thinking Marius." Eponine said.
"Come on you lot. Let's get going." Joly said once he saw us.
"We're coming, we're coming." I said. "Did you manage to get everyone?"
"Yes, but Grantaire passed out twenty minutes ago." Gavroche said.
"No surprises there." Eponine said. She had started to take her hair down and wipe off some of the make up.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Cosette put too much makeup on me. And my head was getting sore from whatever she did to it." She explained.
"Who's Cosette?" Marius asked.
"No one. She's just a friend of mine." Eponine said.
We reached the café at last and were met by wolf whistles and people laughing at our attire.
"Eponine, did you trade your rags for a ballgown?" Someone called.
"Are we here to scrutinise my clothing?" She asked. "Look, if anyone is jealous of my outfit, I can take you shopping one day and we can buy a whole new wardrobe filled to the brim with dozens of frocks."
The room was silent for a moment.
"You got yourself a good woman there, Apollo." Joly murmured.
"I know Joly." I said. "And don't call me Apollo!"