A/N Assume that after the Chapmanthieu trial, Javert arrested Valjean before he could get to Montfermeil to save Cosette. This is what Cosette's life could be like.

Paris,

March, 1831

Cosette looked out over the Seine. The cold breeze blew her hair back and brought goosebumps to her almost bare shoulders. She wanted her shrug back. Thenardier had thought it was a great idea to sell the shrug last summer when it was hot and they just gotten to Paris. Now Cosette was angry it got sold. She had to spend the whole winter without anything keeping her warm. Her one little grey dress with the sleeves ripped off and several tears on it did her no good against the cold.

Cosette looked down at her feet. They were dirty and bare. She reached one of her feet into the water to clean it but immediately regretted doing so because the temperature of the water was even colder than the temperature of the air. But now she had one clean foot and one dirty foot so she stuck her other foot in as well.

Then she sat down by the side of the river. She was tired. Madame was making her do all kinds of errands. Today she had to go to a shop at the other side of Paris and try to sell an old blanket. It was Eponine's blanket and she was very angry Cosette was going to sell it. She blamed Cosette for it being sold, not her Mother. Cosette knew she would have to face Eponine when she returned to the Gorbeau House. She'd also have to face Madame. Cosette knew Madame would be angry at her. She had wanted to sell the blanket for ten francs, but the man at the shop wouldn't give her any more than five and he told her that was generous.

Cosette's blanket was one of the first things to be sold. They only could get two for it though because it was so thin and slightly tattered. Cosette had never had nice things. Even when she lived at the inn. She was never the Thenardier's real daughter. Her Mother had left her with them when she was very young so she could find work. In those days Cosette would dream about her Mother coming and taking her away.

Cosette dipped her hand in the river and swished it around. She thought about how silly she was back then. She was abused and forced to work yet she was always so happy about everything.

That all changed when Cosette was nine years old and they received a letter saying that her Mother was dead and had been for a year. The news hit Cosette hard. The idea that her Mother was coming back was the only thing that gave her hope and when she died Cosette went into a depression.

She got a strange idea that someone was still going to come for her. She spent hours waiting by the front window of the inn for someone to come take her away. But no one ever did.

Then someone did come. Two people actually. A judge from the court and a woman who worked for an orphan's home. Since Fantine was no longer alive, Cosette no longer belonged to the Thenardiers. Little Cosette was ecstatic. But Thenardier was furious. At this time Madame had fallen ill and had difficulty running the inn. They needed their free laborer.

So Thenardier made a deal with them. The orphan home was full and there wasn't much room for Cosette. It would be an inconvenience. So Thenardier offered to adopt Cosette so there wouldn't be any inconvenience for the orphan home.

"But wouldn't that inconvenience you?" The judge asked.

"Well if I could get a little bit of money for her expenses it wouldn't inconvenience us at all." So they left. Thenardier earned 500 francs (enough to keep the failing inn going a bit longer) and Cosette's name legally became Cosette Thenardier. She was officially the daughter of the people she dreamt her whole life of leaving.

Cosette heard the clock strike two times. Madame wanted her home by two o'clock. She got up and started running down the street. Her wet feet caused her to almost trip a few times but she always caught herself. She turned down a street that was a shortcut to her home. She had lived in Paris almost six months now and with all the errands she'd been doing she learned every alley and shortcut there.

She ran quickly toward the house. For a tiny fifteen year old girl with no shoes, she was pretty fast. She opened the door to the Gorbeau House and ran up the stairs to her apartment.

"Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly. She shut the door behind her and leaned up against the wall.

"Did you sell my blanket?" Eponine asked. She sat on the bed (there was only one bed) with her Mother and brother Gavroche. Her other sister Azelma sat on the floor next to the bed and her Father sat in the chair.

"He only would give me five," Cosette said nervously. She reached into her pocket and took out the money. She handed it to Madame Thenardier. She angrily grabbed the money from her.

"Five!" She howled. "I wanted ten!"

"He would only give me…"

"You worthless girl!" Madame Thenardier yelled. "What food will we be able to get with five? We will all starve!"

"I'm sorry, I…"

"Quiet!" Thenardier roared from the chair where he was sitting. "I'm thinking!" He sat hovered over his desk as he finished writing a letter. He stuck it into an envelope. "I wrote this letter to a wealthy philanthropist who lives on the other side of Paris. I told him I was a poor starving artist who needs to paint to make a living but I have no money to buy paints with. When he reads this he'll feel so sorry for me he will be sure to give us lots of money for food."

"Do you actually think he will believe that and give you money?" Gavroche asked skeptically from the bed. He was always challenging his Father on his plans.

"Of course he will you stupid boy!" Thenardier snapped at him. He did not like his son's constant criticism. Gavroche scowled at him.

"I bet the philanthropist will be gullible enough to believe it," Thenardier's wife told him. "People will believe anything."

"Of course they will," Thenardier said with a laugh. "Now Azelma come here and go deliver this." He held out the letter in Azelma's direction.

His daughter got up from her spot on the floor and took the envelope from her Father. "Where do I take it?" She asked.

"The Marais," Thenardier said. "Rue des Filles-Du-Calvaire, Number six."

Azelma looked down at the letter in her hands and thought about how far away it was and how long it would take her to walk there. "Um...I don't know my way there," she said. "Can Eponine come with me?"

"No!" Thenardier snapped. "Take Cosette with you."

"I need Cosette to do the shopping," Madame Thenardier said.

"Make Gavroche do the shopping," Thenardier said. "And then Cosette can go with Azelma."

Azelma frowned. "But I want Eponine to go with me," she said.

"No!" Thenardier snapped again. He got up from his chair and walked over to Eponine who was sitting on the couch moping about how she no longer had a blanket. Thenardier placed his hand on her shoulder. "No," he repeated. "I have a special job for Eponine."