Disclaimer: All characters and situations associated with Harry Potter are property of The Great JK Rowling. Eh, I guess WB has some claim to them, too. I am not making any money off of this.

Author's Note: Thanks go out to my lovely beta-readers who have given me lots of help and encouragement while writing this. They are: my sisters, Andrea and Arlene, my cousins, Kendall and Alyssa, and my good friends for , Rachel and Ashley. Please review when you are finished reading this and let me know of any corrections I could make or of any suggestions you have on how I can improve this. Thanks, and enjoy!

Who Could Ever Love a Beast?

Chapter 1

His breath was coming in quick, sharp gasps as he ran away from the mob of angry townspeople at a breakneck pace. Some of the people were carrying torches. Others were hurling hexes at him. All of them were yelling furiously.

"You'd better run, werewolf!"

"Catch that monster! He killed my daughter!"

A wall taller and longer than realistically possible blocked his path. He backed up against the wall's rough surface, his face contorted with fear.

"No!" he cried desperately, "I'm not a monster! I didn't kill anyone!"

"It lies! Kill the beast!" And soon it became a mantra among the crowd.

"Kill the beast! Cut its throat! Spill its blood!"

All of a sudden, a figure cast a shadow over the crowd and the townspeople stopped chanting. His face blanched at what he saw. A man built like an ox stood before him. He was shrouded all in black from head to heavily booted foot, and in his shovel-like hands, he held a silver-headed axe.

"Do you know who I am, Remus Lupin?" the man asked softly. Remus jerkily shook his head side to side. "I am the executioner for the Department of the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. And you, Remus Lupin, are a dangerous creature." Remus weakly shook his head in protest. The executioner laughed sadistically at the young man's fear. "Did you really think that you, a vicious beast, could live among humans?"

"I am human," Remus whispered, "I am . . . My friends . . . ."

"Lied," the executioner finished his sentence, "Those you believe to be your friends told me all about you, Remus." The executioner grinned as Remus's golden-brown eyes grew with surprise. "Don't believe me? Well, take a look and see for yourself." He gestured toward the crowd. Soon the nameless, angry faces took on the features of his three best friends: James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.

"No!" Remus croaked, "It's not true! James, you would never . . . ." But when he reached out for his friend, James jerked his arm away from him, an expression of deep disgust on his face.

"Ugh, don't come near me, werewolf!"

"What?" Remus was at an utter loss for words, "But . . . but James. Sirius!" However, Sirius merely turned a haughty nose up at him. Remus then turned toward Peter. "Peter . . . Peter, my friend, you wouldn't . . . ."

"Don't you contaminate my robes, freak!" Peter said scathingly. Remus leaned against the wall for support, breathing heavily, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"No, this is wrong. This isn't happening."

"Oh, but it is," the executioner said with cruel pleasure, "And that isn't all. Bring her in, boys!"

From out of nowhere, several small demonic beings carried with them the lifeless body of a young woman. Her long wavy brown hair was dragging on the ground, and her blue-grey eyes stared emptily ahead. There were deep, bloody gashes running across her pretty face. Remus's stomach clenched painfully when he saw that her throat had been messily torn open. The blood that spilled from the gaping hole under her chin spattered on the ground and mixed with the dirt, forming black mud. Remus felt the bile rise in his throat and struggled to fight it down. "Not Lydia," he croaked, "Please, please not Lydia . . . ."

"Oh, yes," the executioner chuckled as though somebody had just told a very good joke, "Yes, it's your beloved Lydia. Would you like to know who ruthlessly tore her throat out, who sank their bloodthirsty teeth into her flesh, who raked their claws over her body? Would you like to know who is responsible for murdering the only girl you have ever loved?" Remus violently shook his head back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

"You did," the executioner whispered, obviously receiving satisfaction from Remus's torment.

"No, no, no, no," Remus muttered frantically, sinking slowly to the ground, "I couldn't have . . . not Lydia . . . ." Soon he was surrounded by the insane laughter of the executioner and his friends.

"Look at him!" Sirius said with a smirk, "He actually thought that we cared for him. Face it, werewolf, nobody could ever love you!"

"Yeah, or they'd end up dead!" James laughed nastily.

"Like Lydia!" Peter chuckled.

"No!" Remus screamed. All of a sudden, the warm, metallic taste of blood filled his mouth and dripped down his chin. With a gasp of horror, he looked down and saw the red, sticky substance smeared all over his robes and hands. As the executioner cackled, the silver blade of his axe caught the equally silver light of the full moon. Remus looked up at the sky with a moan and, with painful jabs nearly impossible to bear, his body contorted into that of a wolf. With a whine, he looked back at the crowd, all of them now in shades of gray. He could no longer understand their garbled and angry voices. With an unnatural flash, the executioner swung his axe up and brought it swishing down . . . .

Remus Lupin woke up in his bed, gasping for air and covered in cold sweat. He looked frantically around him, but all he could see were the thick, scarlet hangings of his four-poster bed. He covered his hot face with his cold hands and sank back into his pillows as his breathing slowly came back to normal. It was a dream, just a dream . . . a nightmare.

Further Disclaimer: The angry mob's chant was ruthlessly taken from Lord of the Flies and the title was inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast.