#being a boy™️ unfortunately means Enjolras is trusted a lot more (hence why he gets to hide so much from Valjean in OFEAverse)

[syrupsyche]

I JUST HAD A THOUGHT

Enjolsette siblings au, when they're running from Javert and end up in the convent.

How does Valjean manage to get two kids over the wall? He struggles enough in the brick with just Cosette, and barely makes it, but now he's got Enjolras too. :O

I doubt there's enough time for him to pull one up and lower the rope to do the same with the second, so does he tie them together? Or have one cling to his back while he climbs? (Probably dangerous af, but if you're in a pinch it could probably work)

Idk this could be really fun to explore the possibilities :0

I LOVE YOUR ENJOLSETTE SIBLINGS THOUGHTS!!!! Thank u for sharing them 😭

Okay so this was one of the parts of canon that, when I first started jotting down my AU, I decided to pointedly ignore because the logistics of figuring it out was CRAZY. Your ask got me thinking about it again though, and after rereading the chapter I decided to write a drabble on what I would think might happen. Is it realistic? Probably not, but this is my sandbox and I shall play with it however I want :3

Drabble under the cut below! Parts in italics are from the original text.

P.S. for those confused as to who Eugène is; that is Enjolras' real name in my enjolsette siblings AU, from the OFEAverse! 😎

—

“Eugène,” said Jean Valjean in barely a murmur. He was untying his cravat. “Reply softly. Have you learned to tie a knot?”

“Yes sir.” The young boy said quietly. He had not yet begun calling the man father. “I tie the horses to their stables.”

“Take your cravat off. Tie the end of it to mine.”

As the boy set about his task, Jean Valjean’s despairing glance fell on the street lantern-post of the blind alley Genrot.

Jean Valjean, with the energy of a supreme struggle, crossed the street at one bound, entered the blind alley, broke the latch of the little box with the point of his knife, and an instant later he was beside the children once more. He had a rope.

When he returned to the dark corner, Eugène had the long strip of fabric in his hands, staring up at Jean Valjean.

“Father,” Cosette said, her small hands clutching the back of her brother’s coat. “I am afraid. Who is coming?”

“Hush!” replied the unhappy man; “it is Madame Thénardier.”

Cosette shuddered. He added:—

“Say nothing. Don’t interfere with me. If you cry out, if you weep, the Thénardier is lying in wait for you. She is coming to take you back.”

Thoroughly frightened, the little girl threw her arms around her brother, her face buried in his shoulder. Eugène looked just as alarmed but kept still, an arm around his sister while his other still held the cravats out.

“Lift your arms,” Jean Valjean instructed quietly, taking the tied cravats away from the boy.

The children complied. Jean Valjean wrapped the cravats around their bodies under the armpits, and fastened it to one end of the rope. He took the other end in his teeth, pulled off his shoes and stockings, which he threw over the wall, stepped upon the mass of masonry, and began to raise himself in the angle of the wall and the gable with as much solidity and certainty as though he had the rounds of a ladder under his feet and elbows. Half a minute had not elapsed when he was resting on his knees on the wall.

Cosette and Eugène gazed at him in stupid amazement. Cosette’s arms had returned to hugging her brother closely, the name Thénardier having chilled her blood.

“Eugène,” called Jean Valjean in a very low tone. “Put your back against the wall.”

The little boy did so at once.

“Are you holding onto your sister?”

“Yes sir.”

“Hold onto her for your life. You must never let her go or you shall lose her forever, do you understand?”

Fear clutched the poor boy’s heart. Still, he nodded bravely and tightly embraced his sister.

“Yes sir.”

And the children felt themselves being lifted from the ground.

Before either could scream or cry, they were on the top of the wall.

At once, Jean Valjean grabbed the children and pulled them next to him. With his knife he slashed the cravats around their bodies, pulling Cosette onto his back and holding her two tiny hands in his large left hand.

“Lie low,” he said quietly, pressing his right hand down on Eugène’s back til he was flat on his stomach. “Crawl to the slope and stop. Move carefully. Do not speak.”

Eugène nodded dumbly and began crawling with the swift agility all young boys possess. Behind him, Jean Valjean crawled towards the cant as well, Cosette clinging to his back.

As he had guessed, there stood a building whose roof started from the top of the wooden barricade and descended to within a very short distance of the ground, with a gentle slope which grazed the linden-tree. A lucky circumstance, for the wall was much higher on this side than on the street side. Jean Valjean could only see the ground at a great depth below him.

He had just reached the slope of the roof, and had not yet left the crest of the wall, when a violent uproar announced the arrival of the patrol. The thundering voice of Javert was audible:—

“Search the blind alley! The Rue Droit-Mur is guarded! so is the Rue Petit-Picpus. I’ll answer for it that he is in the blind alley.”

The soldiers rushed into the Genrot alley.

Jean Valjean pressed a finger to his lips, staring at the wide-eyed boy next to him. Moving in front of Eugène, Jean Valjean allowed himself to slide down the roof, still holding fast to Cosette, reached the linden-tree, and leaped to the ground.

He placed the young girl down the moment they landed, who curled up at his feet clutching his trousers. Whether it was from terror or courage, Cosette had not breathed a word.

Jean Valjean then looked up at the boy still atop the wall. Erasing all traces of fear from his face, he smiled gently up at him and held out his hands, his palms facing up.

Eugène, understanding what he meant, immediately turned onto his back and slid down the roof, stopping himself at the linden tree with his feet. Wrapping his arms around the tree, he quickly scampered down, where Jean Valjean scooped him into his arms at once. Bravado finally leaving that tiny body, the boy pressed his face into Jean Valjean’s shoulder and released his shuddering breaths that came close to tears.

“Hush now, child,” Jean Valjean murmured into his ear, shifting his weight so that he sat on his right arm. Bending down, he slipped his shoes back on and picked Cosette up with his left.

With both children now back in his arms, Jean Valjean turned around to find himself at the beginning of an enigma.