Author's note: This is an AU inspired by Cinderella. I am going by their personalities and appearances in the movie rather, than the book. I'm including Sophie's second sister, and for the sake of the story, they aren't great people. Also I'm taking from the book that the Wizard Suliman is a man and a separate being from Mrs. Penstemmon (Madam Suliman, in the movie).

Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Howl's moving Castle.

Chapter 1

In the prosperous town of Market Chipping, a lively town favored by the Kingdom of Ingary's Great Wizards, there was a successful little hat shop and Sophie, the owner's daughter, was its captive.

Sophie was always seen as quiet and as polite as a mouse, who rarely asked for anything. Her parents had never been overly affectionate toward her, but they never let her go without what she needed. There never seemed to be much affection between Sophie's parents, so when her mother died, it was no surprise that her father remarried little more than a year later.

The woman he married was a widow with two beautiful daughters, who were a couple of years younger than Sophie. They were all beautiful and outwardly elegant. They were all that any successful man could want for appearances' sake, but Sophie's father was not a wealthy noble, and they liked nothing but the finest things. Sophie's father started working so hard to please his new family, that he ran himself ragged and grew sick. In his sickness, he never saw how Sophie's stepmother and stepsisters coerced her to work for their comfort. He was unaware that they were slowly taking away what little Sophie asked for, and directing everything toward themselves. He didn't notice that her room had been taken and she had been moved across the courtyard attaching their house to the shop, to live in the storage above her workroom.

Within a year of marriage to his new wife, he had fallen incurably ill and died, leaving Sophie trapped in a life of near servitude. Sophie's stepmother had fired the few other hatters and most of the shop girls, leaving the majority of the work to Sophie. Her days were filled with designing and sewing the week's quota of hats, which was previously done with the help of three other people.

Sophie felt as if she carried the success of the shop on her shoulder. Even if she was not the face customers saw when the bought the hats, the shop could fail without her. She was always kept working, in a little room at the back of the shop, where she only had her hats to talk to. She rarely left, due to the fact that people came from all over Ingary for her hats, and they were always in demand.

Although Sophie loved the little hat shop, and all the hats she made, the shop was not hers. It was left to her stepmother, until Sophie turned eighteen, but when she came of age, the inheritance was never passed down. Her stepmother kept her working and profited from the success of her 'magnificent hats.'

Sometime shortly after her father died, and her difficult times started, she found company in a magical being that took residence in the workroom hearth. The morning after a powerful storm that shook the shop, she traveled down from her room above, and was surprised to see a small flame in the hearth, when she was sure she had put it out the night before. She stepped closer and nearly shouted when a little face peek up from the between the logs. The little eyes stared at her and she asked, "Who are you?"

"I am an extremely powerful fire demon, named Calcifer!" He proclaimed, rising out to emphasize his words, then settled down immediately, "I was drawn to you when you summoned me with your heart."

"My heart?"

"Your lonely heart called out to me. Usually, fire demons make trades. You give me a piece of you, and I grant your wish," He paused, "but I don't think I require much for some company. If I can stay in your fireplace and you will keep me fueled, I will be your company."

Sophie smiled, and knelt to his level. "It's a deal."

She had been so fascinated by him, that one of her tormentors had arrived at the door before she realized it. It was her youngest stepsister, Martha. She came in, head held high, and looked around for the visitor that Sophie was not supposed to have. Sophie held her breath afraid and unsure of what would happen. After a few seconds of scanning the room, Martha asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"She can't see or hear me." Calcifer said.

Relief rolled over Sophie, and answered, "I was practicing for selling the hats. When the customer and I talk about the price, I say 'it's a deal' when we've reached an agreement."

Her other stepsister, Lettie, walked in, face pinched in a sour expression at hearing Sophie's words. She scoffed and said, "You don't have to worry about that. You just need to stay out of sight, and make the hats where no one can be turned away by how plain you are."

It wasn't as though the customers didn't know she existed, or how she looked, they just didn't know why they only saw her on a few occasions, even in the slower business months. When she left the shop, they would thank her for her hats and tell her about the luck her hats had brought.

In the months that came, these were the stories that Calcifer loved to hear. Sophie rarely let her step-relatives see her whispering to him, but they would notice on occasion. It was alright if they thought she was a little bit crazy or strange. They wouldn't have treated her particularly better if she remained silent, and she took solace in the fact that they weren't around much anyway.

~~~xXx~~~

Spring came and Sophie had been busy making the most up-to-date and fashionable hats for the upcoming festival. Her intuition about the upcoming trends had allowed her to make more hats than could be displayed in the store at the moment, so she had some free time.

She was done by noon and placed her last hat for the day on the stand, only to have her stepmother come walking into the workroom, and say, "You're done with the hats? Great." With no time to rest, she was suddenly forced to accompany her stepmother and stepsisters out while they bought clothing and trinkets for themselves, but not her. They were sure to be making visits during the festival and only the newest fashion would do.

Sophie had various bags dangling on her arms and parcels held close to her body. It was a rather strange sight to see, since Sophie seemed to be the smallest in the party. The people that had known Sophie, knew something was wrong, but there was nothing they could do, so they said nothing.

Since Sophie was only there to carry items, she had plenty of time to stand outside of shops and look at the preparations she did not get to see while slaving away in the back of the hat shop. The town was in various stages of decoration, to gain the attention of locals and those that came from far away to engage in the entertainment, unique to the town that was favored by the two Great Wizards.

A little two-person air craft soared high above the streets, and it never ceased to amaze Sophie what entertainment the elusive Great Wizard Howl provided for the townspeople. He worked in mysterious ways, though you could generally distinguish his work from the Royal Wizard Suliman's, since his work was generally flashier.

The Royal Wizard Suliman was more practical and occasionally helped the people of Ingary with what they could not solve themselves, but it was said that the Great Wizard Howl granted wishes. If Sophie could have her wish granted, she would have wished for a little hat shop of her own, where she would have a chance to be with people who genuinely cared about her.

Sophie was brought out of her thoughts when the other women came strolling out of the shop, and passed her without a glance. She was under the impression that they had their eyes on something they couldn't afford and ended up disappointed. "Sophie, hurry up!"

The next day marked the first day of the week-long festival and Sophie's step-relatives went on a visit, leaving Sophie with freedom from their torment and some free time from work. Even so, it was not much free time, as her stepmother and stepsisters would come back from their visit—with people of a status they were not actually on par with—soon. They would return angry and jealous, and would be worse toward her if she was not home for them to belittle for their self-esteem's sake.

Sophie went to place her own plain hat on her head, and look at her reflection. For someone that had to know all the fashions with hats, she dressed plainly, but she was used to it. Her stepmother spared nothing for Martha and Lettie, but gave nearly nothing for her.

Though she only wanted to see her hat, she was forced to see her plain blue dress and plain brown shoes, as well, because her step-relatives insisted that the mirror be full-length, so they could check themselves before they 'graced society with their presence'.

Calcifer watched her, as her hands tightened uncomfortably on her plain hat. He leaned out of the hearth to get a better look and said, "Sophie, it's a festival, you can dress up a little. I'm a fire demon. I can make something nice with the blink of an eye."

"No, Cal. A plain dress is fine for me." Even if she wanted to dress up, someone might notice her and gossip would get to her stepmother or stepsisters, and there would be questions about where she got the dress. And worse, jealousy that made her life harder. Calcifer continued to stare at her, as if he didn't like her answer, but sunk into the log, so that only his eyes were visible. He gazed at her with displeasure and she smiled. "I will be back soon, Calcifer."

Sophie left out the door in the courtyard wall and wandered through the streets looking at all the displays that were set up for more visibility to those who had come from other towns. She slipped down a side street to go around the one that was promoting her own hat shop. The shop girls were not mean, but they did not really understand what was happening in her home, and Sophie did not really want them to know she was outside.

There were parade floats with people on top of them waving, and Sophie noticed that many were ridden by the owners of shops she had grown up seeing. Maybe before her father married her stepmother, they would have taken part in the parade, but now that money was for mingling with people that outclassed her relatives. There was a break in between the floats and members of the military marched in unison down the street to cheers. Sophie could not help, but think that it would have been nice to have Calcifer out with her. He would have loved it, but she knew it couldn't be done.

"Good afternoon," A man's smooth voice startled Sophie from her musing. She turned and found herself staring into the ruffled line of a silk shirt. She looked up into beautiful blue eyes, slightly obscured by long blond bangs. She forced herself to focus, and noticed that the stranger was quite handsome and dressed differently from anyone she was used to seeing. Instead of wearing a suit like other men, around his shoulders was a red, high-collar coat with black diamond patterns. He had green earrings dangling from his ears and a matching stone around his neck, all which seemed to be cut from glittering stones more beautiful than any Sophie had seen on anyone.

Sophie cleared her throat and smiled nervously at him, forcing herself to respond, "Good-afternoon."

"No need to be nervous, my dear. I just thought you didn't seem very interested in the parade, and I wanted to ask if you would you like to get some tea with me?" He asked.

Even though his looks bordered on ethereally beautiful, no one around them seemed to pay him much attention, so Sophie wondered if she was really imagining him. He let a relaxed smile grace his lips and put his hand lightly on her shoulder, guiding her forward. She realized that he really was there and slipped out from his hold.

"Thank you for your offer, sir." She said as she stepped forward quickly, out of the man's reach. "I'm sorry. I'm actually really very busy. I'm just on break from working."

"Well, why not spend the rest of that break with me?" He offered, remaining at the distance she left him. His voice was inviting and there was something mysterious about him, but she did not have time for mysteries. She had to return home before she lost track of time and surely this man would make her do that.

"No. I'm very sorry."

He nodded, though the relaxed smile remained on his face, "What's your name? Maybe we can meet when you have free time."

"I have a lot of work to do. I probably won't be free very soon." She backed away and turned, hurrying quickly to the corner where she would go to avoid the hatter's stall. Sophie took a last look back and found that the man had disappeared into the crowd. She had not been out long, and part of her wished she had been brave enough to go, but she knew that a little bit of fun was not worth the consequences she would receive if she was gone when her step-relatives arrived. It would be worse if Lettie found out and went to her stepmother with her jealousy.

Sophie returned home to see Calcifer sitting in the hearth flickering in the way he did when he had something to tell her. Seeing him put her at ease and she said, "You look like you heard something interesting."

"I did." He said with excitement, then he seemed to take a better look at her frazzled appearance, "Did something happen?"

"I met a man today. He was very handsome, and he invited me to tea, but I had to be back here."

"You didn't go? Sophie, if he seemed nice you should have gone." His glowing face pinched into disapproval, "honestly, no one would have really noticed, except me. They're all too busy with the festivals. The festival you could have gone to with the man."

"You just want a new story, Cal." Sophie sat herself on a stool before a basket of fabric flowers, and rummaged through it. "Don't you have something to tell me?"

"Yes. The king is throwing a ball."

"What?" she looked up, from the flowers she was trying to match.

"I heard the shop girls talking about it when they were grabbing more hats to take out. Your evil stepmother's trip is to gossip with the high-class ladies about it. There will be wizards there and I'm sure you will get to see things you don't get to see down in town. An invitation was sent here inviting all of you. You should go."

"Why?" The idea of being around so many people made her nervous, especially if there would be magic, but there was something interesting about her going.

"It is just a celebration, but there are eligible men there and you never know who is looking for a wife."

"I haven't been thinking about marriage, Calcifer. You know that."

"That's obvious, if you saw a handsome man and turned him down. Who was this guy anyway?"
"He was blond and wore interesting clothes. He was tall, and there was something strange about him."

"Is that so? So, you didn't get his name, did you?" Calcifer frowned, "I bet you ran away."

Sophie looked at him with displeasure and started to protest, but she heard the door to the front room open, and stood quickly to see if customers had come by the shop instead of the booth. To her disappointment, it was her step-relatives back early from their trip. Their expressions were sour, and Sophie thought they must have been shown dresses for the upcoming ball, more extravagant than they could afford.

"How was your visit?" Sophie asked.

"Lovely." Lettie replied, fanning herself haughtily, "They said we were great company and invited us back." Sophie was not sure how true the words were, but smiled anyway, refusing to ask further questions.

Her step-relatives had decided that they were going to go out to enjoy the festival in the company of more high society people that humored them as hangers-on, but it would take them time to prepare themselves again.

Sophie waited until an hour had passed and her stepmother was in a better mood before asking what she wanted. She waited until Lettie and Martha had already gone outside to the carriage picking them up, knowing that the older of the two would cause trouble and her request would be immediately denied. Sophie hurried to the door after her stepmother as she went to enjoy the last events for the day, "Stepmother, I was wondering if I could go to the ball next week."

Her stepmother froze and turned slowly. She put her fan up to her mouth, narrowing her eyes. "Who told you about that?"

"I just happened to hear about it. Can I go?" She snapped her fan shut, and seemed to think about it.

"Sure. You can go, but only if you make enough hats to sell well in the shop to pay for your own dress." Without a backward glance, her stepmother headed out toward the carriage, leaving Sophie to begin planning for new hats and dreaming of the wonders she would see.

A/N: I phrase it as step-relatives because they don't act like family.