Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame or anything to do with it. However, I do own Diamanta Devereux, her father, Oliver, Cecile Devereux, Madame Doreen,and Judge Thomas Gautier.

Note: No, the story isn't finished. I, too, am a Clopin fan and refuse to finish the story with such a terrible ending as I have in this piece of it. I don't know how many chapters there will be, but there'll be enough for the story to make all Clopin fans fulfilled.

I am also sorry to say that I may not be updating for quite some time due to several towers of homework, but I will complete this story.

Chapter #11

Diamanta spun around and buried her face in Clopin's chest in humiliation. He pulled her closer. How could Clopin be so sneaky as to pretend to be sleeping and listen in on my conversation with…him? Diamanta blushed an even deeper shade of red once she realized how moronic her thoughts were. He didn't do anything wrong. I was talking to him after all. I was only talking to him about my feelings. Oliver and I should do that more often. Why can't Oliver be more like Clopin? Diamanta pulled away from him. What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking this? Clopin gave her a concerned look.

"Dia, are you all right?" he asked. She shook her head no.

"I have to go," she murmured as she pulled the hat and gloves off her and handed them to Clopin. She needed to talk to someone about this. She left the wagon and went into her own. To her complete surprise, Oliver stood inside her wagon, drumming his fingers on the small dresser she kept her clothes in.

"Where were you, woman? No, don't even answer that. I already know you were with that strange man with the hat." Diamanta nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

"I can't talk right now." She grabbed a dark blue cloak that lay neatly folded next to the mattress she slept on. He snatched it from her.

"Why are you always with that man? Why is he so special?"

Because he's not you.

"I've known him for a long time. Him and I are very close friends."

"A little too close if you ask me."

"Well, no one asked you," Diamanta snapped as she took the cloak from him. She put it on before he could take it from her again.

"Where are you going, woman?" Oliver shouted as Diamanta moved toward the door.

"I need to talk to a friend I haven't visited in nearly a year. You remember the gypsy who Frollo lusted after last year, right?" Oliver narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm coming with you," he said.

"Oliver, the streets are dangerous. Gautier has gone insane. If he sees a gypsy, he won't hesitate to commit murder. If you came with me and got killed, I could never forgive myself," she said as she caressed his face. He pulled away from her.

"I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I let you go out there alone and get killed." Diamanta kissed him.

"If you love me, you need to trust me." With that, she left the Court of Miracles.

The streets of Paris were worse than she imagined. Soldiers patrolled every street corner and no child was to be seen, let alone a single gypsy. Diamanta saw another cloaked figure edge toward her. She broke out in a cold sweat and ducked down a dark alleyway where the figure continued to stalk her. She accidentally bumped into a tall man. She looked up at him and gasped in horror.

"It's been a while since I've seen you, Diamanta," he said coolly.

"You're not going to tell anyone—" she began to say.

"Oh, no. I'm surprised you'd think I would turn my own daughter in."

"Ever since the Feast of Fools I didn't think I could trust you at all, Papa."

"But you escaped him. That's all that matters." Diamanta glared at her father.

"You haven't changed. You're still the same evil man you were when I was a child." Without warning, he slapped her across the face. She tasted blood. He reached under her hood and grabbed her hair, pulling her to his face until she could smell his rancid breath.

"If I hadn't changed, you disgusting child, you would be dead by now." He threw her to the cobblestone ground and looked down the alleyway, possibly to see if anyone was watching. "Oh, and I know about Oliver. I would be careful around him if I were you," he said coolly. Diamanta looked up at him.

"What?"

"Let's just say he's a very jealous character." Before she could say another word her father disappeared into a small store. Diamanta pulled herself up and saw that the figure stood at the end of the alleyway and was beginning to edge toward her. In pure fear, she sprinted to Esmeralda's home. Diamanta banged her fist on the door. Eventually a tall blond man opened the door.

"May I help you?" he asked. Diamanta immediately recognized Phoebus, despite the fact that they had never met.

"My name is Diamanta. Esmeralda and I have been friends for quite some time, and I am just paying her a visit. Is she here?" Phoebus gave her a slightly suspicious look before letting her inside his home.

The place was beautiful. Paintings done by Notre Dame's bell ringer ornamented the walls while luxuriant furniture and rugs adorned the floor. A dark, curvy woman appeared at the kitchen entrance.

"Esmeralda, it's great to see you again," Diamanta said warmly. Esmeralda raised her eyebrows.

"Who am I speaking to?" she asked as she edged closer to the unfamiliar girl. Diamanta pulled the hood of the cloak down to reveal her face. "Dia? I haven't seen you for nearly a year!" Esmeralda caught her in a tight hug. "What brings you here?"

"I need to talk to you," Diamanta said in a serious tone. Esmeralda immediately turned to Phoebus, signaling him to leave the room. They sat down together on a lush loveseat.

"Dia, I heard about what happened with Gautier. I don't think I can help you. That's Clopin's job."

"That's not what I came here for," Diamanta said softly. After a few moments Esmeralda understood and a smile played upon her lips.

"Who is he?" Esmeralda said. Diamanta looked down at the stone floor. Esmeralda's jaw dropped. "Is there more than one?" Diamanta blushed a deep scarlet. "Well, I know how you feel. If you haven't forgotten, both Quasimodo and Phoebus had fallen in love with me only a year ago." Diamanta looked up at her.

"This is different, Esmeralda. One of these men is my beau."

"Oh," Esmeralda said softly.

"When we first met, everything was completely romantic. But now, he treats me like dirt and barely talks to me."

"Well, why don't you give him some space? Phoebus was completely miserable after the first few weeks of our marriage."

"Did he disrespect you and refer to you as 'woman'? Did he pull you out of anything you happen to be doing simply to pleasure himself with you? Did your own father warn you about him?"

"No but…what? I thought your father—"

"I bumped into him on the way here. He told me to stay away from Oliver right after he threw me to the ground," Diamanta explained. Esmeralda gasped.

"Oliver? The baker's son?" Diamanta shrugged her shoulders.

"I suppose."

"Dia, stay away from him. He's a very violent man."

"That's not possible. He told me he loved me," Diamanta said plainly. "But," she continued, "There's someone else. I've been close friends with him. Ever since Oliver and I went with each other, my other friend and I became even closer. Today, while he was sleeping, I was talking to him, more to myself really, about Oliver and I. I said I wished the relationship I have with Oliver would be more like the relationship I have with my friend. The only thing is that while I was talking my friend wasn't really sleeping."

"That's when you came here, right?" Diamanta nodded yes. Esmeralda gave Diamanta a reassuring smile. "I think I may be able to help you decide. You're trying to choose between two men. One is your beau, but he treats you terribly and he has a bad background. However, he claims he is in love with you. The other is a close friend, but he seems to be growing into something closer."

"I think I've already decided. I should break it up with Oliver and go to Clopin." Esmeralda's mouth dropped open.

"What? This other man is Clopin? Well, that changes everything," she said. "Break it off with Oliver, and find someone new. Neither him nor Clopin would be good for you. You need to start out fresh and find someone new," Esmeralda said quickly. Diamanta raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with Clopin?" Before Esmeralda could say anything, Diamanta told her everything that happened earlier that day in detail.

"Dia, you just said that if only he was younger you would be with him. That's the thing. He's not."

"Age is a number and nothing more," Diamanta said, more to herself than Esmeralda. She took Diamanta's hand in hers.

"Maybe to you age is only a number, but I know a lot of people who would beg to differ. You're almost seventeen and he's twenty-five. You need to let it go," Esmeralda said gently.

"He's only eight years older than me. Do you know how short eight years is?" Diamanta said defiantly as she pulled away from her friend.

"It's not going to work, Dia," Esmeralda said.

"I could at least try."

"There's no point in trying," Esmeralda said in a slightly louder tone.

"You don't understand!"

"At least I understand that pretending someone is your age when they are far from it is idiotic!"

"Then explain to me why I even bother to talk to you like you're my age!" Diamanta screamed. They both stood in silence until Esmeralda finally spoke.

"Dia, I know you may be falling for him, but think of what others will say."

"Oh, so is it all just based on how you would look to the public eye? Esmeralda you must have forgotten where you came from, because before Sun God here swept you off your feet, you were the scum of the earth!"

"Shut up!" Esmeralda bellowed. Phoebus poked his head into the room.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked.

"No!" Diamanta and Esmeralda shouted at the same time. Phoebus quickly backed away as to not suffer a woman's wrath.

"Dia, you are acting like a fool! Do you have any idea what people will think if they saw you together with Clopin?" Esmeralda said bitterly.

"So love is completely based on what others would think?"

"Dia, you're making a big mistake!"

"Answer me!"

"Dia, if you knew anything about love, you would know that some part of it has to do with what others think of you!"

"I bet Phoebus doesn't know that!" Diamanta paused for a moment, and suddenly her face twisted into an expression of bitterness. "Perhaps," she hissed, "that is the reason you chose the attractive man over the kind one. Simply because you were too cowardly to be seen with Quasimodo and marrying the Phoebus would give you this." Diamanta gestured to the beautiful home. "Oh, I see it now," she continued. "It was all about what they had to offer. The bell ringer would give you his love and passion, while the soldier would give you riches. Smart choice."

Diamanta felt the slightest bit of regret after seeing Esmeralda's hurt face.

"Get out of my house," Esmeralda whispered. Diamanta sighed.

"Esmeralda, I didn't mean to—"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Without a word Diamanta slipped on the cloak and left. To her great surprise, as soon as she closed the door behind her, she stood face-to-face with Judge Thomas Gautier.