me again. writing an AU modern E/E. had to.

"Studying the law makes you cynical. It hardens your soul."

The classroom had gone eerily silent. Dr. Ramsay smiled, coming to stand in front of his desk, hands clasped in front of him. He had been teaching the graduate level "Ethics of the Law" class at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University for nearly twenty years, and this had always been his favorite part. The students in front of him were preparing for graduation, and his final assignment would turn them upside down.

"As my students, however, I hope you will not go through this. I hope you will remember your humility, and your need to be human and emotional. You will each sign up for a personal meeting with me. We will discuss how to avoid this phenomenon." Dr. Ramsay finished mysteriously, his eyes flashing over the four rows of students.

In the second row sat a young aspiring lawyer by the name of Benjamin Enjolras. He had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a general disposition of thoughtfulness. He was quiet in many classes, at least until something mildly controversial came up in conversation. Dr. Ramsay had never seen someone come alive quite like Enjolras, whose entire demeanor would shift in an instant. His charisma took him over; his eyes bright with power and commanding words. Dr. Ramsay knew that Enjolras had all the qualities to become a successful lawyer.

Dr. Ramsay tried his best not to play favorites, but it would happen occasionally. Sometimes he went years without finding a favorite, other years he had multiple. He knew the moment he heard Enjolras speak that he would be a personal favorite of his. This project, he hoped, would cement Enjolras as one of his brightest students.

"Class dismissed, see me in my office at your convenience to set up a meeting time." At that, the twenty students stood, gathering their books and supplies, eager to leave the dark room and enjoy the Paris sunshine. It was April, and with only one month remaining until graduation, the students were restless.

Enjolras packed his books slowly, moving his chair in to allow other students to pass him. When the room was empty, he stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Dr. Ramsay?"

"Yes, Enjolras?" At their first meeting nearly two years prior, Benjamin Enjolras had firmly told Dr. Ramsay that he detested his first name (a feeling that Dr. Ramsay was still confused about). Since that conversation, the professor had only ever addressed the student by his surname.

"I was wondering if I could set up my appointment with you?"

"Why don't you join me for coffee in the café, and we'll have the meeting now?" Dr. Ramsay prompted. He would never invite most of his students to dine with him, but Enjolras was an intellectual conversationalist.

"Sounds good, sir."

The pair exited the classroom, taking the short walk from the Law building outside to the café that sat on the side of the University. Café Musain was a dilapidated structure in comparison to the buildings surrounding it. To many of the students, it was below them. To Enjolras, it was his second home.

"The usual, blondie?" The barista called to Enjolras as he entered the café. He smiled crookedly, rolling his eyes slightly at the nickname.

"You come here often, then?" Dr. Ramsay said, amused by the familiarity his favorite student had with the barista. He had been under the impression that Enjolras did not enjoy the company of many, particularly women.

"Myself and my friends come here often," Enjolras said vaguely. In truth, he and his friends conducted secret meetings at the Café nearly every night of the week, discussing ways to better improve the government. Though it had been many years since France was under a monarchy, there were still ways to "revolutionize", so to speak, and Enjolras sought to seek those changes. They called themselves the ABC Society.

Enjolras walked to the front, ordering a cappuccino for his professor. The barista, Cosette, raised an eyebrow at him. Enjolras shrugged, leaning forward. "Some project for my ethics class," he said quietly.

"So you bring a University professor here, of all places?"

Enjolras rolled his eyes. At first, he had hated Cosette. Marius had strolled into the café nearly a year before, bursting with exclamations of love and devotion to some girl he had just met. Enjolras had been in the middle of a speech about the Occupy movement in the United States (something he suggested they try in Paris), and had not appreciated Marius's sudden declarations. After a few months, however, Enjolras realized that Cosette was not going away, and after realizing she was the same girl who worked in Musain during the days, he begrudgingly accepted their relationship.

"He wanted coffee, I wanted good coffee, so I brought him here."

"You know if the University ever caught wind of what we get up to…" Cosette warned, trailing off. About five months into their relationship, Marius had brought his girlfriend to a meeting. She was a political science major, and extremely intelligent, something that Enjolras caught onto immediately. She was the only girl in their society, and instead of distracting Marius (as Enjolras had expected) her presence encouraged him to work harder.

"I know." Enjolras said quietly, taking his change and dropping it in the tip jar. "It's not going to take long."

Cosette nodded, turning to wipe down the counter. In truth, many of the things that were discussed at Café Musain were highly illegal, and not things that Law, Medical and other students should be caught saying.

Enjolras brought the coffee to his professor and took a seat opposite him. "So, this project…" He started, trailing off. He had not seen another project listed in the syllabus, and with finals coming up, he wasn't sure how much time he could dedicate to something new.

"It's less a project, and more an exploration." Dr. Ramsay started, sipping his coffee. "Ah, that's delicious." He said approvingly. "Perhaps I should come here more often."

Enjolras gave him a strained smile.

"The exploration is one of human nature, something we don't explore too much of in law classes. You've noticed, I'm sure, that as you get further into your academic career, the more calculating and reserved the content becomes." Enjolras nodded, not sure of where his professor was going.

"I started about ten years ago, doing an experiment. A sort of charity, if you will. What are you passionate about, Enjolras?"

The student fell into contemplation. He was passionate about France, that was for certain, and all of her problems.

"France." He said simply. Dr. Ramsay's eyebrows rose.

"France?" He echoed. Enjolras nodded.

"What about France?"

"Everything… all the political issues, the social issues, the poverty..."

"If you could, Enjolras, would you be able to pick one?"

Pick one? Enjolras was concerned with everything to do with his country, and he wished to fight for everyone and everything. To pick one… would that not destroy the point?

"I guess…poverty." He said lamely, picking the last of the issues he had listed. Dr. Ramsay seemed satisfied, however, and pressed further.

"What is it specifically about poverty that gets you passionate?"

"That some people are so wealthy they have more money than they know what to do with, and others are starving and go days without meals." This was the root of Enjolras (and his society)'s cause: the imbalance between the classes.

"Good. Poverty is the perfect topic for this project." Dr. Ramsay said, smiling at his student. "You will, in essence, have to truly see poverty. Not out of a textbook, not out of a case study, but in real life. You mention hunger? How about you volunteer at the soup kitchen for your project? You can see the real sufferings of those you describe; those who go days without food."

Enjolras was floored. He was a law student, after all, he had a lot of work to do. Not that he wasn't interested in seeing the plight of the people (indeed it was all he was interested in), it was just…he didn't have the time for this! Besides, he already knew all about the plights of the people, it was what he spoke about at every meeting of the ABC Society. He didn't need to go to a soup kitchen to know people were starving.

"Sir…I…"

"You're wondering how this has anything to do with your degree?" Enjolras nodded. "Well in short, it doesn't. But I think you'll find that you will get more out of this experience than you did in four years of school. We must not allow ourselves to be hardened by the law…we cannot forget that there are real people out there with real problems. The world is not a case, or a textbook, Enjolras. It is real, and it is hard, and there isn't a lot of good. I trust you'll get something valuable out of this."

And with that, Dr. Ramsay picked up his coffee, waved to Cosette, and left Enjolras alone at the table.

The blonde student sat in shock for several seconds before turning to Cosette. Her expression was questioning, and Enjolras jerked his head to get her to come and talk to him. She rolled her eyes, turning over her shoulder to announce that she was taking her break. She grabbed herself a black coffee, coming to sit across from Enjolras.

"What was all that about?"

Enjolras told Cosette about the project. At the end, she was smiling.

"I think this will be perfect for you."

Enjolras's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "How do you figure?"

"You're a great speaker, and a great leader, we all know that. You talk about all these issues that really matter, and yet sometimes you're talking about things you don't fully understand." Enjolras looked at her blankly. She sighed at his incomprehension. "How can you talk about the starving people when all you know are statistics? You've seen pictures, and maybe passed the occasional beggar, but now you have an opportunity to really see the suffering. If anything, I think this will make you an even better speaker and leader of the ABC."

He hated to admit that she had a point.

"You know I'm right!" Cosette said triumphantly, a giddy smile adorning her face. "I must write down the date and time, I am right and Enjolras is wrong!"

Enjolras said nothing, and after a few seconds, Cosette's laughter died down. She stood, placing a hand on Enjolras's shoulder. "This is going to be good for you," she repeated. "It's not going to be hard, and I truly believe it's going to help with everything we do here after hours."

Enjolras nodded, looking up. He smiled slightly, before turning to pick up his coffee.

"You never know…" Cosette said, walking back to the cash register. "Something else might come out of this."

Enolras scoffed, finishing his coffee. He highly doubted that.

I like to call that little bit at the end FORESHADOWING. drop me a review? They're like the gas to my car.