After crying her eyeballs out, Alex slowly stood up, rubbing her puffy eyes. She wondered where Ginny was and she saw the closet sleeping, slouching on the bedframe as she snored away.

It was in that moment she regretted not joining Harry for dinner; she was hungry. And not even a little hungry, she was starving. She heard what he said, and surely, he couldn't be so set on making her starve? So, what if she was forced to eat with him; she isn't his best friend of any sort!

Alex quietly got up and tiptoed across the room. She hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob and jiggled it a little bit. To her astonishment, it was unlocked! She opened the door, wincing when the door made a large groaning, creaking noise.

Momentarily she was afraid that Ron would be at his post like Hermione ordered to him, but he was nowhere to be found. Alex sighed, and thought to herself that even though they are animated household objects, they were humans before they were transformed and have same sleep cycles as well. But that was thrown out the window when she heard giggling from behind a curtain.

"Oh no…"

"Ohoho~ oh yes."

"Oh NO!" A girl daintily squealed.

"Oh yes…" The familiar voice teasingly said back. Ron!

Alex took advantage of his distracted nature and walked quietly past them, not bothering to disrupt their shenanigans. She walked down the hallway and on her right she found the kitchen. And it seemed like it wasn't empty already.

"All of this food is going to waste!" A stove sighed despondently as he began to dispose of delicious meals cooked for dinner.

"Neville, you must understand the poor girl's plight," Molly gently chided him, "She was scared."

"Yeah, well none of this would happen if she was so stubborn," Hermione snapped, as she kicked a pebble around on the ground.

Alex's hand curled into a fist; how is she supposed to be obedient to someone who thinks coercion is romantic? How rude!

"Shut your mouth! That is no way to treat a lady! If you want someone to spend time with you, you treat them nicely, not coerce them or threaten them to starve to death by blackmail!" Molly yelled, "No matter she said no! Anyone in her place would do the same thing too!"

"She's escaped!" Ron screamed like a lunatic, coming into the kitchen, before Hermione could reply.

"WHAT?! What were you doing instead of guarding her door?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"Probably fooling around with Lavender Brown," Molly sighed.

"Ew, you chose that hag?" George asked.

"Gross," Fred agreed.

Alex decided to come in and the servants looked at her immediately. In a flash, Ron was at her feet, and Alex crouched down to shake his hand and instead, he kissed it.

"How may I help you, beautiful lady?" Ron charmingly smiled.

"Ew Ron, quit kissing her hand before you get slobber on it!" Hermione snapped and slapped away Ron's hands from Alex's.

"Yes, dear, anything we can help you with?" Molly asked kindly.

"I am a little bit hungry," Alex admitted sheepishly.

"Did you hear that? The girl's hungry!" Molly exclaimed happily, "Start the stove! Dishes! Wake up and set the table!"

"Remember what the master said," Hermione said nervously.

"Oh, hush! You can't let the girl go to bed hungry, now can you?" Ron scolded her.

Hermione gave in and said, "Oh alright, but maybe a chunk of stale bread and a glass of water and she has to go back to her room-"

"She's not our prisoner, she's our guest!" Ron exclaimed and blew each of his candles and said mischievously, "And what would a meal be without a little bit of music?"

"MUSIC?!" Hermione screeched.

Alex was shoved into a chair and the chair tucked a napkin into the neckline of her dress. Alex tugged it out and set it neatly into her lap. The chair shrugged and scooted her near the table.

In the smack dab in the middle, Ron had a little circular ashtray as his 'hat' and a match stick as his 'cane'. Casting a side glance at Alex, he began his song, "Be. Our. Guest…"

-x-

At the end of his performance, Alex had tried a sample of so many dishes, that she was stuffed. Ron was running his mouth over how amazing his own performance was, and Alex had to agree with him. He did have a way with the ladies, and that charm coupled with performances is a true natural element.

"You were fantastic," Alex smiled, thankful for his generosity and kindness for the grandiose performance.

"Why thank you, madam," Ron bowed down, ashtray in his right hand.

"Hehe, well, off to bed now!" Hermione came up next to Ron.

Alex shook her head and said, "I can't possibly go to bed now! There is so many things to see in this castle!"

Instantly, Ron and Hermione were nervous. If she wanders too far, she might end up in the west wing, and they would be nothing but a pile of broken rubble the next day!

"Uh… what's so fantastic about this castle? I mean nothing is out of the ordinary," Hermione said, glaring at some laughing spoons that daintily hopped off into a cupboard.

Alex rose an eyebrow and said, "Well maybe to you, but I have definitely never seen animated household objects, and I want to see the rest of this enchanted castle."

"Enchanted?" Ron laughed nervously, "Who said anything about enchanted?"

"Really? Curse, break the spell, animated objects, etcetera… and none of this sounds enchanted?" Alex asked the two.

"Now if you put it that way, she does have a point," Ron mumbled, only to get elbowed by Hermione.

"Shut up! You're supposed to be on my side!" Hermione barked at him.

"I think there is no one who knows more about this enchanted place than you do," Alex said, pointing to Hermione, "Why don't you be my tour guide? I wouldn't trust anyone else to be it, anyways."

Hermione, bashful that someone for the first time in a very long while had recognized her intellectual talent, giggled nervously, and said, "I guess I could show you a couple of places for tonight…"

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "Weak."

-x-

"And this is where the master has his collection of armor! Centuries old!" Hermione said gleefully and then turned around, "Well this concludes your tour. You should get to your room."

"But I want to see more," Alex pressed.

"What more could you want to see?" Ron asked nervously as they approached a staircase.

"I wondered what is in the west wing," Alex asked as she started to walk up the steps.

Immediately Hermione and Ron ran one step in front of her, making her stop if she wished to not step on them.

"Nothing's in the west wing!" Hermione said nervously.

"Oh really? Then it wouldn't hurt to look!" Alex said and scrambled around them.

Again, the two ran to one step in front of her, making her stop one more time. Now Alex was annoyed and wondering what they were hiding from her.

"Guys, what is in there?" Alex asked suspiciously.

"It is so boring, you don't want to go there!" Ron said frantically.

"Then why are you trying to keep me from going there?" Alex asked quizzically, then sighed, pretending to give in, "Okay, I guess I won't go there. I would get bored."

The two sighed a sigh of relief, happy that their words got to her head.

"How about you two show me the library? I'll race you guys, and the loser has to read a book to me!" Alex smiled.

"I would love to lose!" Hermione yelled, "But with this bimbo, I am going to make sure I win!"

"Hah! All you do is read! I am gonna win!" Ron scoffed.

The two ran down the hall, and Alex looked after them, waiting for them to disappear. Then when she was confident that she lost them, she raced up the steps. She knew that they were trying to prevent her from getting into trouble, but she loves trouble!

Finally at the end of the staircase, she went in the direction of one wing she wasn't familiar with on the recent tour and what Harry hadn't showed her: the west wing.

It was a dark door with a heavy gold designs on it. It gave off a sort of mysterious, dark and regal vibe off of it and Alex was instantly drawn to it. She prodded the door open and it didn't resist much, it was then that she realized that the door was ajar. This made her suspicious because if this wing was 'super-secret' and 'forbidden' like Harry insisted rudely in her face, then at least he would have the decency to lock it!

But what she saw inside was a whole different story. The room was a mess. And by a mess, it's not your typical disordered bedroom where stuff was just misplaced a little bit. Things were haphazardly misplaced, glass shards and wood splinters sprawled all over the floor and the stone walls were chipped slightly because of throwing stuff at it constantly.

Curtains were torn to shreds and picture frames were broken. Looking at some pictures, she found a portrait of a young man, woman and a little boy. Was this prince married with a little child? Alex shook her head at the silly thought, maybe they were his parents and he's the little boy.

Another one was the most striking one of portraits. In a sea of old Englishmen and women, there was a young man in regal attire who had such distinct green eyes, thick eyebrows, scruffy dark brown hair, a bit of stubble, pale skin and facial features that would tell you that puberty had served him well.

That, or plastic surgery, Alex thought mockingly, but then again, it seems like all royal children are born perfect.

He struck her as having a British nationality, like everyone else in her town. Kind of made her feel left out because her family moved to Europe after her father died. (A/N: Harry doesn't wear glasses in here. It would be weird for me to imagine the Beast wearing circle lens-shaped glasses in this fic.)

A glow caught her attention and her attention was fixated upon a table. It contained a hand-held mirror and a beautiful glowing rose. Alex walked over to it, and picked up the mirror and looked at it in interest for a couple of seconds. Then, losing interest in it, she placed it down and looked at the rose in the glass cage.

"What is he doing, encasing this flower? It needs to breathe," Alex huffed, transfixed by the beauty and thought of it as an excuse to touch the flower.

She picked up the glass lid and placed it on the side. Just as she was about to touch a petal of the rose, a shadow covered her. Turning around, her face filled with terror when she came face to face with Harry. He was furious and snatched up the lid and covered the rose.

"What were you doing?" Harry snarled.

"I just thought the rose needed some air-" Alex started but was cut off rudely.

"WHY DID YOU COME HERE EVEN THOUGH I TOLD YOU NOT TO?!" Harry roared.

"I-I-"

"YOU WANTED TO SEE MY HORRENDOUS FACE, DIDN'T YOU?!" Harry bellowed and swung a wooden chair into the wall, breaking it into bits.

Alex backed away rapidly and Harry yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

She didn't hesitate to do just what he asked and hurried down the hallway, hearing his agonized roars from the west wing. She hurriedly padded down the staircase only to be stopped by Ron and Hermione who were very worried about her.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Alex grabbed her cloak and hurriedly said, "I can't stay here."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"I feel like I am being suffocated here, and it is just as bad as at my home. Why is it everywhere I go I get treated like shit? I just wanted to be happy. And now I will run away, far from this country, and start my own life. I would rather be on the streets than face him again," Alex said tearfully as she snapped on the fastener of the cloak that was around her neck.

"No wait please come back-" Ron pleaded but Alex ran out of the mansion, slamming the door behind her and causing the harsh wind and a bit of snow to snub out his candle light. He and Hermione exchanged sad glances.

Alex ran into the harsh cold and had aimed to climb over the gates and run in a random direction when suddenly, wolves climbed out into the clearing and circled her.

"Well… what do we have here? Potter's got a new toy," a tall werewolf smirked.

"W-Who are you?" Alex stuttered.

"Fenrir Greyback, the father of Mason, who left the pack to earn your hand in marriage. Stupid fool even left our pack just to do so," Fenrir snapped.

"W-What?" Alex asked in disbelief; he was a werewolf? That explained his pointed canine teeth whenever he smiled at her.

"And I am going to drag you back to him one way or another," Fenrir cackled and in an instant roughly grabbed her cloak, dragging her in the snow by it.

Suddenly there was a growl and the wolves were thrown in the snow with the flick of a paw, one that belonged to Harry. Harry! Alex's head snapped to him, who caged over her protectively.

Alex unsnapped the fastener so all Fenrir was dragging was a cloak. Fenrir tried to grab onto Alex but was thrust away by Harry. But he didn't go down without a fight, Fenrir managed to claw Harry on his forearm, making him roar in pain.

"Go away before I snap your neck!" Harry yelled at Fenrir, who, injured and defeated, scoffed and limped away with the other wolves.

Alex smiled and was about to thank him when she felt something drip onto her face; it was blood, and it was Harry's.

"Y-You're injured!" Alex said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Don't get so snippy with me, I need to bandage it up! Do you have first aid?" Alex asked.

"Well weren't you trying to run away?" Harry asked.

"Do you want me to?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"No."

"That's what I thought," Alex said triumphantly, "Now let's get inside, my cloak got ripped away and I am cold and I need to ask Mrs. Weasley for some first aid materials."

-x-

Near the fireplace, Alex had Harry sit down on a plush chair and she had the trolley next to her, with towels, bandages, medicines, rubbing alcohol, and some wash cloths. Alex picked up one wash cloth and dipped it into a bowl of steaming water. She looked at Harry and said, "This will sting a little."

He nodded and when Alex gently applied the hot wash cloth to clean the wound, he roared in pain, "THAT HURTS!"

"WELL IT WON'T IF YOU DON'T STRUGGLE AROUND TOO MUCH!" Alex yelled right back.

The servants winced at the ferocity of the maiden and their master. Yep they are a match for each other.

"WELL YOU SHOULN'T HAVE GONE INTO THE WEST WING!"

"WELL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE YELLED AT ME!"

"WELL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE RUN OUT THERE!"

Alex caught herself. She could never accuse him of saving her. If he had never stepped in, she would be dead.

"I-I know. I won't do it again. But I really regret it and I want to show my gratitude. I understand it hurts but I need to clean it or else it will get infected and make the wound worse. If it will help, I can dip it in cold water as well so it won't sting as much," Alex said softly.

Harry looked at her in surprise, but was happy she was grateful for his help. Come to think of it no one was grateful for what he did so he became more reclusive and therefore narcissistic, which was the downfall to this curse. He nodded and Alex dipped the washcloth again in hot water and in cold water, dipping repeatedly and testing it on her own skin before she gently applied it on his wound.

This time he grunted a little bit, but she had kept true to her word. The wash cloth was now not as scalding as before, a bit tingling but overall relaxing. Alex dabbed and got all dirt out of the wound and applied medication before tying it tight (gradually adding pressure after warning him) with a bandage.

"I will check on it tomorrow and change it daily so that your wound heals quickly, alright?" Alex asked, and Harry nodded in reply. Dusting her muddy skirt, she looked down and mumbled, "I guess I'll take a bath and go to sleep."

Alex turned around and was going to walk up the staircase to her own room when Harry said gently, "Wait, Alex."

"Yes?" Alex asked, surprised by his soft tone.

"Would you join me for breakfast tomorrow?" Harry asked, however he remembered all the chain of events that happened when he forced her to dinner then muttered, "That is, if you want to. No force or anything…"

Alex's face broke out into a beautiful smile, and said, "I would love to. Also, you should know Alex isn't my real name."

"It isn't? Then, what is it?" Harry asked, surprised.

"My stepmother despised me and when I became her maid, she said I looked as ugly as a boy who didn't hit puberty yet, so she shortened my name to Alex. But my real name is Alexandra Margarita Russo. You can call me by my feminine name if you wish. Only my biological parents were allowed to," Alex said.

"I don't know what she's talking about," Harry said, "You're more charming than those ladies who wear makeup. I love your name, Alexandra."

Alex blushed and said, "Alright, Harry. See you tomorrow for breakfast at what time?"

"8 o'clock," Harry smiled.

"See you then," Alex nodded and padded up the stairs.

For the first time in a long time, he genuinely smiled to himself as he relaxed in his chair. In fact, he was so happy that the rambunctious excitement of his servants couldn't annoy him in the moment.

TBC…