Beauty and the Beast

by IcedShardz

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter. Applies to full story.

Genres

Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Summary

EXTREME AU (including geography); based off of fairy tale. Lily Evans. A Muggleborn witch who had never known of magic (with the unfortunate fact that her name was burned from the admissions book of Hogwarts). An outcast from the society, due to her love of books. She one day arrives home from college and finds her family dead. Believing that there may be an explanation in the haunted woods nearby their small town, she mounts her horse and searches for an answer.

She thought she found her answer when she came upon a looming castle with unbolted gates, looking dreary in the constant dark.

James Potter. A Pureblood wizard of high society, but a traitor to the Pureblood belief. Has a great role in the raging magical war between the Order and Lord Voldemort. He finds his family dead returning from an Order mission, and only very narrowly escaped death himself--cursed by a man he thought was his friend, Peter Pettigrew. But Peter, who could not bear to kill his friend, offered padding: that James would become a hideous beast but still have a chance at returning to his normal self, without harm, should he find true love before a rose blooms and dies, as long as he did not reveal himself to society for Peter's sake.

And he agreed, escaping to Hogwarts, the once-magnificent castle surrounded by the Forbidden Forest that was now glum, due to the winning streak of Lord Voldemort's.

And there they meet; but after so many years of isolation, he isn't quite the man he used to be... in more ways than one. LJ

Author's Note

I am a huge fan of fairy tales, in the blatant truth. Of all those, Beauty and the Beast is my ultimate favorite (that story is simply genius), and I wanted to write an HP version of it. As you can see, this is amazingly AU but has a major HP twist to it. In fact, it's only somewhat similar to the original Beauty and the Beast. But hope you enjoy! Remember to review!

Takes place in England (I'll try, at least), not France.

Notes:

Hogsmeade is not a wizarding town.

Amos Diggory (Cedric's father) is not a wizard.

Petunia and Lily are friends.

No talking wardrobes… just House-Elves

Remember that this is AU!

Lily shivered in the cold; it was not yet snowing, but she desperately hoped that it would. The wind was blowing fiercely as she battled against it, trudging to her home. Her face was barely visible, a knitted hat covering the top of her head, a scarf covering the bottom of it. Yet, despite all this, a smile had managed to cross her face, her eyes glistening merrily. For who would not be happy to finally be reunited with their family for Christmas break?

She was now a freshman in college, and, since her departure in early September, she had not yet met her family--a great change if there ever was one. And to be frank, she missed them desperately. And now, she was to see them again! Petunia had come home from a different college only two days ago and had been anxiously awaiting Lily's arrival. She could imagine her whole family in her mind's eye: snuggled together by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and sharing ginger snaps, and reading some of their favorite stories out loud together.

Hogsmeade. Her hometown; the place that she'd lived the majority of her life. Granted, her childhood there wasn't exactly social, for many had turned their backs to her for her love of books. Petunia, on the other hand, however, had always been in the center of attention, but Lily was never jealous. She found her solace in her books and never once felt lonely.

Her smile grew wider as she recalled the kindness and generosity of her older sister. Petunia. She'd always stood up for Lily whenever someone was picking on her--especially that one boy, Amos Diggory. Granted, he was attractive, athletic, and extremely popular--and one of the biggest bullies if there ever was one. While other girls looked up to him and giggled delightedly whenever he cast a smile their way, Lily thought him conceited and rude.

Of course, his rudeness had ceased toward high school, when Lily's figure filled out and her scrawny, freckled face flourished into something much more beautiful. She was easily the most attractive--however nerdy--female in town. Amos Diggory immediately started paying attention to her, commanding a halt on all of his taunts that he often used during their youth. That, however, did not mean that he was any less conceited and any less of a pig, in Lily's eyes.

She looked around Hogsmeade. The once packed streets that bustled in its daily routine were now bare, due to the fact of the cold weather. She smiled and started toward her own home--a little bit off from everyone else's. Her mother and Petunia often complained about the ten minute walk to the center of the town, where all the social activities were held, trying to get Father to move somewhere closer. He, however, stood his ground and said that he liked his peace and quiet. Lily couldn't agree more.

She picked up her pace and ran toward her house, her broad smile growing wider and wider as every minute passed. Finally, at the doorstep, she knocked at the door. "I'm home," she called. When her knuckles collided with the wooden door, however, the door was pushed open. Lily frowned; her parents normally kept the door locked, due to the fact that the nearby woods held strange creatures that could wander into their house.

Perhaps they wanted to surprise her, she thought, telling herself that it wasn't much and to forget about it. But she couldn't there was something that made her uneasy and she couldn't shake it off. She shivered once more, and this time, it was not credited to the cold. Advancing, she looked around hesitantly. There was nothing wrong; the kitchen countertops were still a mess, like the way it always was, no matter how much her mum tried to clean them. The coffee stain on the carpet was still there, even after her mum's relentless scrubbing. The refrigerator still had the memos and magnets on it.

But that made it worse.

She passed room by room, until she finally found them: by the fireplace, a shocked expression on their faces... and not one of them alive and breathing. In her father's hands, he held a book of fairy tales. Bending closer, she saw that the page was turned to the story of the Shoemaker's Elves. Her heart fell apart. It was her father's favorite story.

Her mind could not process the information as she turned around, finding her family so still. Mum was wearing that favorite red sweater of hers that her now-deceased grandmum had knitted, especially for her. She'd promised Lily that one day, she'd give it to her. And Petunia...

A glint caught Lily's attention. A necklace hung around her neck. Lily recognized it; it was the best friend necklace that Petunia had given Lily. Lily felt for the half that dangled around her own neck. And suddenly, Lily turned around and bolted out the door toward the town.

"Help!" she screamed, the cold forgotten. Spinning around, she continued crying for help. "My family is dead--help! Someone, help!"

When no one responded to her cries, Lily started to bang on doors. When the doors opened as she hit them, she stopped and looked around. Not one light was lit in the long row of houses. Not one fresh smell of newly baked goods came from the baker's small store. Even if they had been inside to fend from the cold, they would not have remained inside without any glimmer of light at all--the darkness would not have descended upon the little town of Hogsmeade.

Horror began to etch itself into Lily's heart as the situation finally dawned upon her. So caught up in shock, she had not had time to be upset, but she was now. And she collapsed to the floor, tears falling onto the street. Her family was dead. Everyone.

And she was the only one alive for miles around.

----------------------------

It was promised, over and over again: she would find the cause of such a terrible situation. Who in the world would mass-murder a whole community of innocent townspeople? Even if she had not been intent on finding the answer, she could not stay in a town with dead bodies of those she'd known and loved to taunt her. Finding her horse, Philippe, still alive and thrashing in his stall, Lily inwardly felt relieved. At least they had not taken her horse away as well.

After quickly feeding him, Lily saddled Philippe and mounted him, charging directly into the forest without a moment's hesitation. They knew that the forest was rather frightening, and those who entered hardly ever returned, and if they did, they were not the same person they were before.

And she knew she'd find all her answers in there.

She rode on for hours and believed that she was going in circles; she was getting sore sitting in the same position on her horse. Forcing her horse to trot a bit longer, she looked around. She felt as though she was constantly being watched.

Then they came.

Spiders.

Gigantic spiders; spiders larger than old Mile's beer belly.

She swore she heard them speak, telling her to stop. But she didn't. She no longer had to push Philippe forward, for he bolted on his own, trying to get away from the spiders that looked ready to kill. Spotting a gate ahead, Lily directed Philippe toward the gate and slammed it shut behind her.

When the spiders did not follow her inside, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. In her hurry, she had not noticed where the gate was hiding. But it was impossible to hide something so magnificent, so large, and so... frightening.

A castle.

You must continue onward, she told herself, setting a straight face. You promised yourself... and your family. And so, she continued onward, holding her horse's reins in her hand. However, her horse felt no urge to oblige to her and tried to eat some grass. Lily smiled; no doubt he was starving, the poor beast. She removed his bridle so that he could eat.

Leaving him to his rest, Lily approached the lake that set itself between her and the grand doors of the castle. Before she could figure out a way to get across it, however, a small boat rose out of the lake with a strange creature on it. It had large, pointed ears on either side of its head and large, round eyes. Indeed, it looked like a... mutated doll?

"Would Miss like to get across the lake?" it said.

Lily jumped backward, looking around frantically, her heart beating wildly. What was this? Talking spiders, and now talking... mutated dolls? She backed toward the fence, managing out a frail whisper, saying, "Wh--what are you?"

However, the mutated doll did not seem cruel at all. Rather, it beamed broadly and said, "I is Bibbo, Miss, Bibbo the House-Elf."

"Bibbo," Lily repeated faintly, looking edgy. "Ah." She felt the gate's iron lines against her back. Knowing the dangers outside the gate, she only shrunk against it, wide-eyed, staring at the creature in horror. "Get away," she whispered, her voice shaking.

Bibbo looked startled and frowned. "Bibbo apologizes, Miss; did Bibbo do something wrong?"

It took everything Lily had to stop herself from crying again; how much did she have to suffer and endure in one day? The murder of her family; chased by speaking spiders; and now, a... House-Elf? She'd never heard of a House-Elf before. Was she destined to meet the doom of all those who had entered the forest before her?

However, to her utter shock, Bibbo started to hit its head against the nearest solid object, which happened to be a rock. "Bad Bibbo, Bad Bibbo!" he said, knocking his head against it. "Bad Bibbo!"

At this, Lily decided to at least put her trust in this small, apparently kind creature. After all, if the only loyal creature was her horse, then how could she ever survive in the forest? Standing up, she took a frail step toward the creature and said quietly, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you or anything..." When she understood that Bibbo's antics had not ceased, she asked, "What is this place?"

To her great relief, Bibbo dropped the rock and beamed at her. "This is Hogwarts!" he said, without any other explanation, as if expecting Lily to understand the place by the mere title. However, Lily had never heard of such an absurd name before--Hogwarts? Taking Lily's blank look for one of disbelief, the elf nodded sadly and said, "It was once magnificent, yes; but now it is lost."

"Is it... safe?" Lily asked hesitantly. She wasn't quite sure of the answer she wanted to receive.

The elf looked lost to the question. How was he to respond? Carefully, he said, "Bibbo isn't sure. Hogwarts used to be, but Hogwarts has many secrets inside." He paused before continuing, glancing at an oddly-shaped willow tree, "And be aware of the Whomping Willow."

Lily nodded, attracted only to the word "secrets." Of course it would have secrets! She nodded, summoning her bravery inside her. "Take me across the lake."

Bibbo beamed and brought her into the small rowboat (which was surprisingly dry, despite the fact it had only just risen out of water), and began to row his way across the wide lake. Interrupting the silence that had fallen, Lily said, "I have a horse... Philippe. He is grazing somewhere, with a saddle; his bridle is in my hands."

"Kinki will take care of Philippe," Bibbo promised.

"Kinki?" Lily asked. "Is she... or he... another of your type? What's it called... a House-Elf?"

"Kinki is," Bibbo said. They then resumed to the previous silence that had fallen down upon them.

Lily down at the water. It was so peaceful... The ripples started to spread until they finally succumbed to the still water. However, Lily caught a pale-eyed creature looking at her before disappearing. It looked almost human... a deformed human, actually. Lily shrinked from the edge of the boat and averted her gaze.

"What is in this water?" she asked, feeling as though she were back at school, asking questions about everything she saw.

"Many things," Bibbo replied honestly. "Grindylows, mermaids and mermen, a giant squid--"

"Did you just say grindylows and mermaids?" Lily interrupted, staring at the elf, aghast. When Bibbo nodded with a broad beam on his face, Lily almost collapsed. "But they don't exist! They're only the stuff from legends and myths! What are you going to tell me next, that magic exists, too? That wizards and witches actually exist in this world in secret, casting spells everywhere? That unicorns actually run freely in the forest?" Lily was near hysterical; everything she believed in was suddenly turned around. She saw it with her eyes; surely there must be some illusion! Perhaps a dream?

"There are witches and wizards! There is magic! There are unicorns!" Bibbo replied merrily, the smile still plastered on his face.

Lily could not be more horrified at the very prospect and remained silent for the remainder of the ride, her head spinning. Magic. It exists. This horrible forest is more than just cursed... it's magic! Though it seemed to be an explanation for everything she saw that day, she still refused to believe it. She had already pinched her arm several times, each time receiving a painful wince and red nail marks in her skin.

One mystery solved: this was reality.

Everything was solid. She'd even felt Bibbo; he was real, too. But this just defied everything she'd learned--physics, logic, and pure common sense.

She wasn't quite ready for it all yet.

----------------------------

"Master! A girl has arrived!"

The griffin turned from his position, looking at the excited House-Elf, Unqui, who had delightedly exclaimed the news. "Do not bother in an attempt to cheer me," he said before returning to his book.

"But Master--Master!" Unqui tried desperately to get the beast's attention. "There is a girl! Look out the window!"

And, when the beast found no reason to decline Unqui's persistence, he dared to glance out the window at a chance of hope. What he saw was a boat rowing toward Hogwarts, a young lady with brilliant red hair on board. He stood up, knocking over the table in the process. "Send her away."

Unqui, who had expected a smile on her Master's face, was shocked by the response. "But wouldn't Master like to be human again?" Unqui said. "Maybe this is the girl! There is not much time left!"

"I could never return to that life again," the griffin said, shaking his head roughly. He let out a humorless chortle and said, "I'd rather not go somewhere where closest friends would turn to betrayal for power and will is weak."

"But Master's other friends did not leave!" Unqui insisted, reminding the griffin of his past life. "Master enjoyed his life before, but Master does not smile as a griffin."

"I can live my life in solitude!" the griffin exclaimed, shooting Unqui a warning glance to avoid speaking another word on the same topic.

And the poor elf only bowed and scampered away, leaving the beast on his own. He sighed, shaking his head, looking out the window once more. And he couldn't help but miss his old life a bit...

His hazel eyes shined in memory, but the brilliant gleam was quickly erased and disappeared to emptiness.

----------------------------

They approached the grand double doors. Carved into the wood were beautiful stories of all creatures magical, but they could only barely be seen, covered with moss and dust so thick that its beauty could not fully be appreciated. She prepared herself for whatever was behind the two doors, and she pushed.

The doors were heavy, making Lily's arms ache a little. When one door was finally open enough for her to comfortably slip through in, she stepped into the grand castle and was astonished by what she saw.

Cobwebs, thick and large as anything, littered the corners. The grand statues were covered with mold; the paintings were ripped or hanging at an angle. Some were already fallen. The floors were covered with thick dust and she left footprints wherever she went. It was clear that its magnificence, however evident before, was no longer existing, and it had been long since the castle had been used.

"Am I the only human here?" Lily asked quietly, looking around as she walked forward. The only light was the light provided by candles, dimly lighting long corridors.

Once more, Bibbo looked stuck. Finally, he fumbled out a positive agreement and retreated, departing. Lily frowned at the elf's strange behavior but decided to ignore it, continuing onward, looking from left to right.

She was not alone for long, however, when another House-Elf with similar traits but obvious differences (eye color, for instance; she assumed that they followed the same laws of genetics) appeared before her. "Would Miss like Reena to bring Miss to the bedrooms?"

Lily smiled at the cheerful creature before her and agreed. "Call me Lily," she said, and the House-Elf was only too happy to oblige. She assumed they'd be happy to oblige to anything.

After many twists and turns and going across a staircase that, apparently, moved, Reena designated herself as Lily's personal House-Elf, especially to guide her around the first few weeks--for Lily felt ready to be lost in such a large castle immediately. Her room was a dorm in a tower, which, according to Reena, was entitled the "Gryffindor Tower."

Lily bathed and looked through the wardrobe, but found only strange garments similar to robes. Quickly, she donned one and called for Reena, asking her about it. "That is the usual wear of wizards and witches," Reena had explained. And now, warm food had been served to her; if anything, Lily adored these House-Elves.

Of course, Lily offered that Reena dine with her, but Reena refused. When Lily offered any other payment that she had with her (and she did not have much), she looked horrified at the mere idea. She would have persisted some more, had she not seen Reena so happy working earlier, and figured that House-Elves main source of enjoyment was work.

And indeed, Lily was so caught up in what was going on around her, understanding and figuring the properties of magic, that she did not recall her parent's death until when she prepared for rest, snuggled beneath the warm covers. She remembered the look on their faces... the red velvet-covered fairy tale book that her father held. She knew that they had been in the middle of laughter before their doom announced their death.

And for the first time in a long while, Lily cried herself to sleep.

Okay. Three on-going stories published at once. If the reviews satisfy, this will be the one I will update most.

I'm sorry if this chapter was really OOC. It's more of a prologue to get things going and introduced, and I really didn't know how to deal with Lily's feelings. I'm personally glad that I haven't had the chance to experience it.

If you can tell me any ways how to improve, or anything at all, then please tell me! Thanks!