Disclaimer
I do not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it belongs to Victor Hugo.
Storyline
This is a fan fiction about Clopin Trouillefou and my own character Celine. In this story Celine will be the niece of Judge Claude Frollo and Clopin will be around 25 years old.
A/N: Hi guys, sorry for late updates on my other fanfics. My old laptop finally broke down completely and that's when I saw that I forgot to copy some of the updated chapters/newly written chapter to my external disk. :( Anyhow, I'll see if I can retrace my way of thought and re-write the chapters again and then hopefully not forget to copy them over for safety. I started this story almost 4 years ago and re-read it and have now made a few changes. Hope you'll like it and don't forget to review.
PS. The title will change eventually, just haven't figured out a good one yet.
Rating
K
Chapter one: First meeting
It was early morning in Paris and Celine, a young girl in her early twenties, had just woken up from her sleep. Celine Bauxbatons were not like other girls her age. First of all other girls her age did not have Judge Claude Frollo as their uncle. Secondly Celine really like to read books, especially poetry although her uncle often told her to stop with such nonsense. One time when Celine decided to take a walk on her own a couple of young men tried to attack her, if her uncle had not showed up Celine wouldn't be here today. Claude sent the young men to prison for a short time and told them if they or anyone else ever tried to do the same thing again they would be hanged. Because of that a lot of young men stayed away from Celine and avoided conversations with her because they feared that Claude Frollo might charge or accuse them for something.
The reason why Celine lived with her uncle was because her parents had died a few years earlier. Her father died defending his country in a war and her mother from an illness. As Celine went down to have breakfast she noticed that her uncle had already left for his duties. Normally Celine would stay inside to read or study some of the books her uncle had about law and stuff. However today she felt like taking a walk in the busy streets of Paris. When she finished breakfast she said good bye to the maids.
As Celine got closer to the square in front of Notre Dame she noticed a colorful caravan where a couple of children were sitting. As Celine got closer she could hear someone telling a fairytale. Celine did not recognize the tale since her mother had read stories from the Bible and when she came to live with her uncle he'd told her to stop acting like a child and start behave more like a proper lady. Since she had never heard a real fairytale Celine got closer to the caravan and took a seat behind the children. From her position Celine could see that it was a young man telling the tale and from what she could see of his face she thought that he was quite handsome. As the fairytale ended some of the children walked up to give him a coin while other just walked away sad that he had finished. Celine had just decided to give the man one of her coins when a whistle was heard and the man disappeared. Not long after that Celine saw her uncle coming her way on his black horse. She really disliked that horse since he'd thrown her of multiple times.
"Celine what are you doing outside in a place like this? Haven't I told you to be more careful where you go?" Frollo said.
"Sorry uncle, I just didn't feel like staying inside all day today" Celine said.
"As long as nothing happens to you. I took you in because your mother was my only sister and that she wished for a safe place for her only daughter and child. If something happens to you I don't think that my sister will be very pleased with me in heaven" Frollo said.
"Don't worry uncle, I'll stay away from suspicious allays and won't talk to strangers" Celine said.
"That's good Celine. Well since I met you here would you like to join me for lunch today?" Frollo asked.
"I'd love to" Celine said.
As Celine and her uncle Judge Claude Frollo made their way to have lunch a certain storyteller kept his eyes on Celine as they got further and further away. Clopin had heard stories about a young woman living with the Judge. Most men said that it was best to stay away from the young woman or something bad might happen. This made Clopin curious to whom this woman really is. The moment she had appeared in front of his caravan he knew that there was something with her that other women did not have or possessed. Sure she was really beautiful but that was not it. Clopin decided to figure this riddle out even if it took him years to finally know the correct answer.
Celine and her uncle made their way back to the palace of justice where they would be eating their lunch. After lunch Frollo returned to his duties and Celine decided to try and find that caravan where she heard the fairytale earlier. She really wanted to hear another tale and also see his face again and maybe talk to him if she ever got the chance. He would probably just ignore her like every other man did.
When Celine found the caravan she saw it was open and that there were a few children sitting in front of it. Carefully she approached hoping that she wouldn't disturb the storyteller. This time Celine decided to not stand as close like last time but close enough to hear what the storyteller said to the children. This time the storyteller told the story of Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame. Celine had met Quasimodo a few times when she joined her uncle on his visits to him. Even though he didn't have a face like most other people Celine knew that he didn't mean any harm. Celine was so busy with her own little world that she didn't notice a hand waving in front of her.
"Hello? Mademoiselle?" Clopin said while waving his hand in front of Celines face.
Since Clopin didn't get an answer from the girl he decided to do something that might get her out of her own thoughts. Before Celine knew what was happening she noticed that someone had lifted her up and was carrying her away. She quickly took notice that she was being carried on a shoulder.
"Hey! Let me down!" Celine said.
"Oh, so the little dreaming girl has finally come back to the real world!?" Clopin said with a bit of sarcasm.
"Who cares if I was in my own little world for a while. Just let me down" Celine said taking a swing with her fist towards Clopins head but missed.
"Fiesty are we?" Clopin said. "However, I don't think I can do that" he continued.
"And why is that?" Celine asked.
"I don't want to and it's so much more fun this way" Clopin said as he continued on without a care in the world.
"I said let me down" Celine said.
As Celine said the three last words she hit the man that was carrying her with her elbow on the back of his head. This resulted in both the man and Celine falling to the ground. When Celine managed to sit up she saw that the one who had carried her was no other than the storytelling gypsy. As he was starting to get up again Celine started to crawl backwards. Scared of what the man might do. She calmed down a little bit when she saw him smiling at her.
"Man, I didn't expect a move like that from a little girl like you" Clopin said as he massaged the back of his head where he'd been hit.
"Little girl!? Hey old man, I'm not a little girl. I'm 22 years old soon to be 23" Celine said angrily.
"Old man?" Clopin said while looking questionably at Celine before starting to laugh. "Ma chéri, I'm not an old man. I turned 25 a few months ago and will be 26 later this year" Clopin continued.
Before Celine could say anything back to the gypsy a whistle was heard and a few guards were coming the way where they were sitting on the ground. Quickly Clopin got up and before he disappeared he helped Celine up.
"Farewell my somewhat fair lady" Clopin said while adding a mocking bow making Celine stare at him with disbelief.
Before Celine could ask for his name he was gone and a guard was standing behind her while the others were looking for the gypsy Celine had been talking to.
"Let me guess, my uncle sent you to fetch me? Making sure I didn't get into any trouble?" Celine said facing the guard.
When Celine got back her uncles home she noticed that he had yet to return. She figured that he was busy with (according to her) unnecessary preparations for the next day. The reason Celine deemed them unnecessary is because the event that will take place the following day happens every year, and every year something always don't go as planned. With that in mind Celine went straight to her own quarters dismissing the maids.