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Chapter Text

Hello~
I'm glad you found this story, it's my first of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and thought I'd share it with you, stay well everyone and enjoy reading :) (English is not my first language so sry for any mistakes)

The bells of Notre Dame echoed again as she walked across the forecourt with her father and sister and again spotted the puppeteer who was there as he was every day. She found him fascinating, but her father and sister always looked at him and the others with disgust and hatred, somehow she hoped inside that he didn't think she was like them.

Clopin had caught sight of her and when their eyes crossed he gave her a smile and a wink, whereupon she blushed but also gave him a smile and a quick wave. Antoine turned to her and looked at Clopin.

"Stay away from that pack and remember, even if he is at war, you have a fiancé, so act like it" he admonished her sternly and pulled her roughly behind him. Clopin scowled after him, he hadn't done anything, neither had she, he just didn't understand people, he felt a little sorry for her somehow, even though he didn't know her name, even though they had "known" each other for so long.

He usually saw her in the company of her father or sister and she didn't really look happy, well if she was lucky her fiancé would fall in the war, but would that really be luck? Her father would probably choose the next one.

Another day he actually saw her alone briefly and had sneaked up on her. "All alone on the road Mademoiselle?" he asked her whereupon she whirled around and blushed again.

"Yes" she replied quietly, "Your father allows this?" he asked with a grin, which caused her to look to the ground. "I have to go on" she said wanting to go on, he hadn't really meant to do that.

"I didn't mean that, you often seem unhappy in his presence" he confessed to her. "You are mistaken" she only replied and continued walking, yet he followed her which she noticed. "If you don't want my father to see you, you'd best leave" she advised him.

"Is that a threat?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously, which made her realise her mistake. "N-no, I just don't want him to set the soldiers on you" she answered him immediately. This now made him look up and smile, "Is that so?" he asked and immediately bowed, "Y-yes" she answered him and suddenly heard footsteps.

"Go away" she asked him softly with a pleading look. Clopin nodded but took her bracelet as he kissed her hand. "You'll get it next time we meet" he promised and winked at her before disappearing and not a moment too soon.

"Did you get everything?" her sister asked, causing Victoire to nod immediately, "Good" came only the reply and they continued walking. "Don't even think about it" her sister Emilie admonished her as she noticed Victoire looking at the stalls for the feast. "Sorry," she murmured and immediately followed her.

When they arrived home, her father nodded when he saw the shopping, "Where is your bracelet? "I must have forgotten it this morning, father," she replied quietly. "Or did they steal it from you?" he probed further and had grabbed her wrist roughly, "W-what? No, of course not" she replied, he narrowed his eyes and slapped her across the face.

She lifted her cheek and noticed the tell-tale burning in her eyes. "I thought this was important to you, your mother left it for you for a reason, but you would trample on her legacy like that" he said contemptuously.

Then suddenly there was a knock and Emilie opened the door, "Phoebus" she said delightedly, "Hello" he greeted her with a smile. Antoine grabbed his daughter by the arm and whispered to her, "I'll warn you if he notices anything," Victoire nodded intimidated, he didn't have to say the threat, of course Phoebus hadn't missed it.

"Antoine" he greeted him and shook his hand, "Phoebus, I see you have returned a splendid war hero" he said with a smile. "Yes, you could say that" he said with a smile.

"Victoire" he said delightedly and immediately embraced her, which she was only too happy to return. "Phoebus, it's so good to see you" she said delightedly and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm glad to be here again too" he said softly, stroking her cheek gently. "Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked her, at which she looked first to her father, who nodded. "Of course" she answered him and he held out his arm which she was only too happy to take and they left the house.

Victoire took a deep breath when they were outside, she felt she could breathe properly again. "I seem to have arrived just in time, haven't I?" he asked her, to which she nodded.

"Achilles" she called delightedly and immediately stroked the stallion, this made Phoebus smile. Clopin looked at the two of them and his expression darkened, especially when he saw her cheek redden.

He noticed that she seemed a lot more relaxed, so maybe he wasn't the one who had hit her. "Oh yes, it's about my mother's bracelet" she replied, this made Clopin look up and Phoebus also looked at her in surprise.

"Did you lose it?" he immediately inquired, to which she shook her head. "It wasn't stolen either, I wrote to you about the puppeteer" she explained. Phoebus began to smile knowingly, "Yes I remember, don't tell me he has it, have you at least been able to find out his name by now?" he asked her.

"Y-Yes he took it with him as a promise that he would give it back to me when we met again" she confessed. Phoebus sighed, "Please don't let your father hear this, I hope he actually gives it back to you, after all it's the last thing you have left of your mother" he reminded her.

She nodded and looked down at the floor, "Don't hang your head little one" he said softly, which made her look at him again with a slight smile. Clopin looked at the bracelet in his hand, he had messed up big time, should he risk it now? He didn't know him so it wouldn't be very smart, he hoped she would come to the feast later and disappeared.

"I have a little question Phoebus," she said softly, which made him look up because he could hear the uncertainty.

I hope you enjoyed it, see you soon~

Chapter Text

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, taking her hands in his. "Today is the Feast of Fools and I thought maybe you could put in a good word with Father so that I could at least get out a little?" she asked softly.

Phoebus smiled, "But of course I will, I am the captain in Paris now after all" he said and winked at her."You are what? Congratulations Captain!" she said laughing happily and threw herself into his arms, whereupon he hugged her tightly.

"I'll take you home for a bit, talk to your father and then I have to go to the Palace of Justice, though I have no idea where I'm going" he explained to her, which made her nod, but look a lot happier by now.

"Shall I take you there?" she asked with a grin to which he raised an eyebrow and replied with amusement, "I'll find it myself" to which she laughed softly. 

"You're back?" asked Antoine, "Yes we are, I still have to go to the Palace of Justice and meet with Judge Frollo there" he explained to him, Antoine nodded appreciatively.

"I probably have to work but would you mind if I took Victoire to the party? We haven't seen each other in several years" he explained himself to his uncle. "This is a wonderful idea" he said with a certain smile, because Judge Frollo would also be there, so he had nothing to worry about Victoire doing anything stupid. "

Alright, I'll meet you later" he said turning to Victoire, taking her hands in his again and giving her a kiss on the cheek before he disappeared, she looked after him with a smile which her father misunderstood.

"Well then get ready daughter" he said with a certain smile, to which she nodded and thanked him: "Thank you dad" and disappeared into her room. The time she had been without Phoebus had probably opened her eyes, very well.

After changing her clothes, packing a few coins and saying goodbye to her father, she left the house. There was already a hustle and bustle, Phoebus was nowhere to be seen.

She got herself a little something to eat and drink and kept walking, maybe she saw him, but suddenly someone grabbed her wrist and she immediately pulled in panic and turned around.

Clopin looked at her confused, "Are you alright?" he asked her immediately, "Um yeah sorry about that" she answered him immediately, "Not for that I thought you would want this back" he said and had pinned the bracelet on her again.

"But" she started, "I may have noticed how important it is to you" he confessed to her, "I..thank you" she thanked him and gave him a warm smile. "What is your name Mademoiselle?" he asked her.

"Victoire, Victoire Dupont and you?" she asked. "Clopin Trouillefou" he answered her with an expansive bow. "Pleased to meet you" she said with a smile, "Me too, but now I have to go, I hope you'll stay?" he asked her.

"But by all means" she answered him with a beaming smile which he returned, shortly after he disappeared.

Chapter Text

The crowd became denser and denser after Clopin disappeared. She tried as far as she could to get to the front,
suddenly music sounded and she heard a familiar voice.

Come one, come all
Leave your loops and milking stools
Coop the hens and pen the mules
Come one, come all
Close the churches and the schools
It's the day for breaking rules
Come and join the feast of
Fools!

She saw Clopin slipping out of a crowd of hooded figures and laughing,
which also made her laugh and feel the joy spreading through her.

Once a year we throw a party here in town
Once a year we turn all Paris upside down
Every man's a king and every king's a clown
Once again it's topsy turvy day
It's the day the devil in us gets released
It's the day we mock the prig and shock the priest
Everything is topsy turvy at the feast of fools.

Topsy turvy
Everything is upsy daysy
Topsy turvy
Everyone is acting crazy
Dross is gold and and weeds are a bouquet
That's the way on topsy turvy day

Topsy turvy
Beat the drums and blow the trumpets
Topsy turvy
Join the bums and thieves and strumpets
Streaming in from Chartres to Calais
Scurvy knaves are extra scurvy
On the sixth of January
All because it's topsy turvy day

Come one, come all
Hurry, hurry here's your chance
See the mystery and romance
Come one, come all
See the finest girl in France
Make an entrance to entrance
Dance, la Esmeralda
Dance!

She had followed Clopin through the crowd as best she could and found his performance more than fascinating but when he came so close to Frollo she held her breath for a moment, was he out of his mind?

She could imagine that Frollo himself would not spare anyone on this day, but he had remained calm and had given Clopin a look that said it all, when Clopin disappeared through the cloud of smoke on stage it made her laugh and marvel enthusiastically,
until she felt hands on her hips and she was whirled around to the one. She looked into the masked face of Clopin which made her beam.

"That was wonderful" she said immediately with a laugh which made him smile.
"Always glad to hear Mademoiselle, one would think this is your first Feast of Fools" he said with a grin.

"Well it is, I may have been here with my mother as a child but I have no memory of it if that is the case" she explained herself.
He frowned, "You're serious? Well, having seen your father and sister, I can well imagine" he said, sounding annoyed?
She wasn't sure, she was probably just imagining it she was sure.

"Oh I have to go, I hope you will stay until the end?" he asked with a charming smile."Of course" she promised him, whereupon he gave her a kiss on the back of her hand and disappeared, reappearing on stage shortly after, she looked up at him with reddened cheeks.

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for
Here it is, you know exactly what's in store
Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore
Now's the time we crown the King of Fools
You all remember last year's king?
So make a face that's horrible and frightening
Make a face as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing
For the face that's ugliest will be the King of Fools
Why?

Topsy turvy!
Ugly folks, forget your shyness
Topsy turvy!
You could soon be called Your Highness
Put your foulest features on display
Be the king of topsy turvy day

Everybody!
Once a year we throw a party here in town
Hail to the king
Once a year we turn all Paris upside down
Oh, what a king!
Once a year the ugliest will wear a crown
Girls, give a kiss!
Once a year on topsy turvy day
We've never had a king like this

And it's the day we do the things that we deplore
On the other three hundred and sixty-four
Once a year we love to drop in
Where the beer is never stoppin'
For the chance to pop some popinjay
And pick a king who'll put the top
In Topsy Turvy
Topsy turvy
Mad and crazy, upsy daysy, Topsy Turvy Day!

Quasimodo looked so happy, which she granted him, at first the crowd seemed to be happy for him too, but the situation turned pretty quickly and she looked around frantically, no one wanted to help him, why on earth?

She tried to push her way to the front which didn't really work and got several pushes from the crowd until a big man pushed her roughly to the side and let her fall but Clopin was there and caught her.

"But" she started, "Come on you shouldn't be standing here in the middle of this mob,
they're insane" he said, grabbing her hand and making his way through the crowd with her, she tried to catch a glimpse of Phoebus but only saw something golden flashing.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.
"Why not?" he asked her a question in return. "You could have just left me standing in the crowd, it's not really safe with Frollo around" she tried to explain herself.

"Are you afraid of being seen with me?" he asked a touch sharper now, glaring at her from behind the mask. "What? No, of course not, I" she started but suddenly saw how Phoebus had seen her and also saw that Clopin was still holding her hand, she swallowed she couldn't interpret the look he was giving her.

"Careful" Clopin shouted as the soldiers tried to grab Esmeralda and pulled the brunette asid e. "Thanks" she mumbled and looked at him thankfully.

"That's my cue" he said as Esmeralda disappeared,he disappeared as well. It started to rain, whereupon she pulled up her hood and looked in the direction Clopin had disappeared.

Chapter Text

"Where are you going? You should get home as soon as you can, it's not safe and I don't want you to catch a cold" Phoebus pointed out to the younger girl who now looked up at him.

“But Phoebus,” she began, “it's better this way, believe me,” he promised her, whereupon she nodded unwillingly and wanted to leave, but then she came face to face with Frollo and couldn't get a word out.

Phoebus immediately got down from Achillies and tried to intervene. “Sir, this is my fiancée Victoire Dupont,” he introduced her.

"Dupont? I know your father my child, you must be very proud of your fiancé as well" Frollo said with a slight smile that did not reach his eyes.

“Y-Yes sir, I am,” she replied immediately, hardly daring to look at him directly. “I hope you are not on the side of that pack my dear” he began.

“No sir why should I” she started but Frollo interrupted her. “You have been seen with Clopin Trouillefou” he said and looked down at her darkly, which sent a cold shiver down her spine.

She knew she couldn't lie to him, at least not directly. “He spoke to me before the feast, my lord, I am entirely on your side,” she tried to make herself sound right and hoped he bought her lie.

He stared at her but couldn't see a lie, "I hope so, it would be very foolish of you to put your family and the captain in danger, especially after what happened to your mother. I can imagine that Trouillefou is trying to confuse or even bewitch you, only he probably neglected to tell you that his own father had your mother on his own conscience," he told her, which made her freeze and immediately search Phoebus' gaze, but he knew as little as she did.

The minister leaned down a little and forced her to look at him. “I take it I can count on your loyalty, my dear?” he asked with a smug smile, making her uneasy.

“Yes, sir,” she replied quietly and could see Clopin hiding on the side of a house, their eyes crossed and neither of them knew what to believe about the other, both felt betrayed.

The captain had followed her gaze but couldn't recognize anyone, he suspected he knew who she had seen there.

“Captain, get back to work and you'd better go home, greet your father for me,” Frollo ordered the two of them and they complied. The young woman walked home slowly in her thoughts and therefore did not notice the two soldiers who followed her at a good distance.

When she arrived home, her father opened the door and wanted to say something, but noticed that two soldiers were standing at a distance and nodded to him.

“Forgive me for only coming now, father, but there was an incident that prevented Phoebus from taking me home personally and I had a conversation with Judge Frollo, he told me to send you his regards,” she explained immediately.

“That's all right, go and change, thank you,” he instructed her, whereupon she just nodded and disappeared into her room. There she got rid of her outer garment and sat down on her bed and played with her bracelet, she was confused and didn't want to believe Frollo's words.

Late that evening after dinner, there was a knock at the front door, whereupon her father opened the door and none other than the captain entered.

“Phoebus” she said with a delighted smile, ‘Victoire’ he also replied with a smile, “Come in my boy” Antoine instructed him, whereupon the blond complied with the request.

"What brings you here? I hear you have a lot to do," the older man inquired, to which Phoebus nodded. “I came to see if Victoire was alright after I couldn't escort her home personally,” Phoebus replied and took off his helmet.

Victoire smiled gratefully at him. “I'm fine, thanks for asking,” she assured him with a smile. “What exactly happened today?” asked Antoine.

“Let's just say that Quasimodo was crowned King of  Fools, if I understood correctly, and the people tortured him, whereupon the gypsy Esmeralda freed him.” Phoebus gave a short version of the events.

Chapter Text

She was out grocery shopping when she was suddenly pulled into an alley, but before she could call out she felt a hand on her mouth.

“Quiet” she heard the familiar voice of Clopin who sounded quite serious, she just gave a nod and shortly afterwards she felt him take his hand away.

As she stood opposite Clopin in the alley, she blushed a little as she didn't know him in these plainer clothes and his mask was completely missing.

Her counterpart noticed her behavior but immediately misinterpreted it, as he immediately addressed her: “I know these are not nice clothes like yours but”, but she immediately interrupted him, “N-no that's not what I meant, I think it suits you, especially since it's the first time I'm facing you without your mask” she immediately explained.

//Moment that was the reason for her behavior?// Clopin thought and only now noticed the redness on the young woman's cheeks and grinned to himself.

“But what's wrong?” she asked him, because there had to be a reason, otherwise he wouldn't have pulled her into this alley.

"What's wrong? I don't really know if I can trust you anymore," he growled at her. “What makes you think that?” she asked, confused.

“After the party, Frollo, ring a bell?” he asked and walked towards her, causing her to flinch and feel the cold wall at her back.

"Is that why? I might be just as upset. He told me that your father was to blame for my mother's death, which I don't exactly want to believe and besides, may I remind you that I didn't say a word that you were still around? I could have betrayed you especially after what I heard but as we both see, you are still standing in front of me" she explained herself, sounding angry at first but softening towards the end.

“My father?” he asked, his eyes narrowing and she swallowed. “Frollo said something that neither Phoebus or I knew about,” she tried to explain.

“My father died on the same day as your mother,” he said almost bitterly, which made her flinch.

“But,” she began, she hadn't known that, “they were friends and that was probably the downfall for both of them,” the black haired man explained, sounding a little calmer.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know that” she began. “I thought you should know and thank you” he mumbled towards the end.

“I would never betray you” she said softly and looked at them with a sad look, since he had come into her life she felt like she could breathe and live properly again.

“Maybe I was a little hasty with my opinion, but you have to understand that I have to be so suspicious to protect my people” he explained himself.

“I understand that,” she said gently and brushed a tangled strand of his black hair out of his face, whereupon he gently took her hand and gave her a kiss on the back of her hand.

“Please take care of yourself, it's getting steadily worse at the moment,” he said gently. “But of course I will, please take care of yourself too” she asked him. “You could” he began, but she immediately shook her head.

“Thanks for the offer, but then my father and Frollo would have even more reason to hunt you and your people down if I disappeared without a trace,” she explained to him, to which he nodded understandingly.

But then they heard soldiers approaching the alley, which prompted her to pull Clopin along with her and carefully peek out at the other end of the alley.

“Go on, hurry,” she said gently and looked at him pleadingly, she didn't want anything to happen to him. He peeked around the corner himself and looked at her again briefly, whereupon she gave him a sad smile, she would like to run away with him but she couldn't.

Victoire smiled a little, her mother had been friends with Clopin's father, sometimes history repeated itself?

Chapter Text

“You're late” Antoine said and looked at her searchingly, “I know father, I'm sorry but it was really stressful in the current situation” she tried to explain.

“And it has nothing to do with this puppeteer?” he asked dangerously calmly, she swallowed. The young woman was more than sure that no one had seen her with Clopin.

“No definitely not father” she replied with a smile, "And then what was at the feast? I was told that you spoke to that criminal" her father continued to sneer.

“I already told Minister Frollo there that this Jester had spoken to me, but I didn't enjoy it for a second” she replied angrily. Antoine gave her another critical look and just nodded.

"Do you know anything about Phoebus? I haven't seen him for a while?" she asked him about her fiancé.

"Captain Phoebus betrayed Frollo, so I will find you a new fiancé. That he was so weak and allowed himself to be enchanted by that witch, even though he knew that you had been waiting for him all these years," her father replied darkly.

“And what exactly happened to Phoebus?” she asked slowly. “ It doesn't matter to us, he can rot somewhere for all I care” Antoine replied spitefully. Victoire looked at him in shock and felt the first hot tears.

“ This is how you can be mistaken about someone, if I had known this sooner, you would have been married long ago” her father continued as he disappeared into another room.

The young woman roughly wiped her face and then hurried to her room, she had to get out of here and immediately, she definitely didn't want to be sold off to the next best man but then she hesitated, what if her father wanted to give her to Frollo?

No, she couldn't think like that, she had to keep a cool head and escape from here as quickly as possible.

Victoire put on her bracelet, grabbed one of her cloaks and a few coins and soon disappeared through the window into the night. She had barely escaped when she heard the shouts behind her and just kept running.

Victoire arrived after some time, out of breath, in an alley far enough away from the house she had grown up in and leaned against the cool stone wall. The young woman couldn't let herself be caught, now that she didn't know what had actually happened to Phoebus she had no ally, just as she had recovered a little the young woman bumped into a little girl who was now looking at her fearfully and now she heard the guards approaching.

“Come on,” she said and quickly took the little girl in her arms and continued to stay in the shadows of the houses.

The young woman had hidden behind a few boxes to catch her breath and had now set the little girl down on the floor.

“You didn't turn me in,” she said quietly and looked at the young woman more closely. "Why should I? You didn't do anything wrong and Frollo encouraged the soldiers to arrest everyone and everything," she explained.

They wanted to move on but suddenly a person stood in front of them and she pulled the little girl right behind her.

“Stay where you are,” Victoire growled and took the nearest thing, which was only a broken wooden pole, better than nothing. Clopin scowled at her at first but realized it was Victoire and his features softened a little.

“You can put down your weapon, I won't hurt you, I was looking for her, little Emily got lost earlier” he explained.

“Are you all right so far?” she asked him and looked at him more closely, putting the wooden pole away again, he sighed.

“More or less Esmeralda did a lot of damage with her actions, even if she only meant it well,” he answered her. “And are you all right?” he asked the counter question, to which she nodded.

“Yes, I fled immediately after I heard that Phoebus had betrayed Frollo,” she explained, but was suddenly pushed against the nearest wall by Clopin with a hand over her mouth.

“What happened to the captain?” asked one of the soldiers passing their alley. “I heard he disobeyed an order and Frollo wanted to have him beheaded, he escaped but is now supposed to be dead despite his escape, serves the bastard right,” he said with a laugh.

Clopin felt his glove become damp and looked into Victoire's crying face. The Jester immediately pulled her into his arms and once the soldiers had gone, he removed his hand from her mouth.

“H-He can't, no” she sobbed and buried her face against his chest, the jester swallowed, even though he had rarely seen the two of them together, you could tell how important they were to each other.

After Victoire had slowly calmed down and it was safe again, the jester looked at her. “You're coming with us now,” he said, taking her by the wrist and pulling her along.

“Are you sure, I`m” she started, “Of course I am” he said seriously and continued to pull her along, Emily followed them both.