Title: Beauty and the Beast
Author: Mjade
Summary: Draco/Mione fic. One year after graduation. Ron and Harry go exploring and when they don't come back Hermione begins to worry. I know the title is corny but I named it that because the plot line is based on that.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Walt Disney own Beauty and the Beast, the animation.
Rating: PG/Romance
Author's Note: Ugh! It was all the homework a.k.a. prison work. Man, reality bites hard! Okay maybe it wasn't only the work. I confess: I went out with friends for the past Saturdays, and Saturday is the only time I have to surf the net for hours. So I decided to finish it on a weekday! Oh well, another original chapter! And this is long so you better be satisfied!
Thanks to The Charmed One, kt, whatever22, hazeleyez, Beauty Full for your reviews. ~ lion1990- As long as she falls in love with Draco. That's all that counts! ~JamieGirl-Heh heh! You have to read to find out! ~*kittykat* -thanx. I hope you like this too! ~Elven Josefine-well better get your sanity back! Next chapter is here!!!
With Draco Malfoy worried about Hermione Granger, Lucius Malfoy's findings of Hermione's whereabouts, Harry Potter wakes up three hours before noontime realizing than his best friend, Ron Weasley, is nowhere in sight.
Harry painfully opened his eyes to the blinding sunlight. He groggily sat up, his unruly hair standing up in all places (a/n: He must have looked adorable and no, I am not being sarcastic. . . heh heh!) as he searched for his round glasses on the bedside table.
"Ron, get up!"
There was no answer, not even morning groaning from the next bed.
"Ron, come on! Get up you great log!" Harry called again. He finally got his glasses on and checked the clock. It read 9:07 a.m. He looked to Ron's bed about to attempt to wake him up again but Ron wasn't there. For a while Harry just stared at the empty bed that had already been made. Just simply staring.
* No. . . he . . . didn't. . . *
Apparently he did. Everything seems to be going my way, Harry thought sarcastically, gritting his teeth. He searched the room; the map was gone and a single apple was left on the table.
*Doesn't matter. I got to the castle without the map before…the apple? Not much of a breakfast, I bet Ron passed the baker's shop. *
Harry's stomach was growling. He bit into the apple, flung his coat around himself, and went down the stairs into the inn's lobby.
"Hey Harry! Hey!" A familiar voice called to him. As Harry turned he saw none other than the new Daily Prophets photographer, Colin Creevey. Harry groaned inwardly.
"Am I glad to see you! I really thought I would not find you! Okay, now I can fin—"
"Umm. . . Colin, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.
" I heard about you having another assignment to take in France, so I told the Daily Prophet I'd get the story and the pictures. Can you believe it? I'll be able to do my own story for once—"
"That's nice, Colin. But listen can you take your photographs later? I have some important business to do-"
"Well that's what I'm suppose to do. To take pictures on your auror business."
"This is not auror business, Colin. I have to go and look for Ron. You see he did something. . ." Harry trailed off and mumbled 'crazy'.
Colin did not hear it and said, "That's okay. I'll come along. Who knows? We may run into some death eaters along the way."
Harry sighed defeated and left through the door with Colin right behind him.
***
Hermione strode lightly through a narrow hallway, holding a candle, and the walls were covered with paintings and doorways leading to almost anywhere. The paintings did not move as in the muggle world, they stayed as they were. They were beautiful paintings, settings where she wished she could be, something she would long to see. She opened another door and absentmindedly walked in. She gazed at a few more paintings.
She looked around. Nothing in here was familiar. She's never been through this way. No, she can't be lost… at least she wouldn't admit she was lost. Hermione searched for the door and was startled when she found it.
* I could have sworn it was on the opposite side *
She turned the doorknob and stepped in.
She was lost.
And utterly alone.
There were several still paintings on the wall but one picture caught her eye. She stepped closer to it and could almost hear music. Snow was falling lightly on the ground. Two people, a boy and a girl, barely older than Hermione, ran outside laughing. The girl flipped her brown her with her hand, gathered snow, and formed it into a ball. She smiled mischievously and threw it at the boy. It landed on his face and the girl giggled. The boy smiled and went to form a snowball but before he could throw it the girl got him again.
* They look so happy * Hermione thought. Then suddenly the setting of the painting became sullen and the boy and girl looked terrified. The boy started to point to Hermione's right. . .
She stepped away from the picture as it returned to the same still painting as before. The candlelight went out and Hermione found herself breathing hard. *What was the boy pointing at? * She wondered. She turned to her right and sure enough there was another door. She remembered the two people's terrified faces and shivered. The silence started to become eerie. . . she started to walk towards the door.
***
Draco Malfoy rushed down the steps into the dark narrow hallway. The lights were dim. He could make out various paintings plastered on the walls as he went through the endless maze. He couldn't keep track of how many doors he opened, or at least tried to open. . . but he still could not find Hermione. Draco felt his head throbbing painfully as if he just woke up from an uneasy sleep.
* She could be anywhere *
As Draco went down more steps; he entered an even smaller room with even more paintings on the wall.
The door clicked shut, Draco tried to open it—the door disappeared but he noticed another door at the opposite end.
Feeling a little bit lightheaded, Draco opened the door just about a fragment and peered in. For a while, he stayed at the door. Then suddenly, he saw something or someone move.
***
There were four bronze bolts on the door. Hermione ran her finger along the bronze. She could hear her heart beating faster than normal and the silence finally frightened her but the door was beckoning to her, begging her to take the bolts off. Slowly she lifted the first bolt.
Nothing happened. It appeared to be a perfectly ordinary door.
* Right, I'm just being a bit paranoid. Well, I hope this door will take me back to 'civilization'—*
She froze. There was a light knocking sound on the door.
*Oh my god! Is somebody trapped there? * Part of her mind was saying leave, and she knew she should, but her hands took over. She lifted the second bolt.
And as on cue the knocking sound became louder. Her head was shouting at her to go away, she was getting herself into danger. But it was if her hand was possessed and she took away the third bolt on the door.
The knocking soon turned into harsh pounding. Hermione's lip trembled but she couldn't stop not even if she wanted too. The pounding noise ricocheted in her mind. Hermione closed her eyes and breathed deeply before opening them again. She had choices: simply leave, stay in the room but letting the door remain close, or take the bolt of and enter the door.
*Come on, Mudblood. It's just one more bolt * Hermione heard in her head, but it wasn't her thought. It was someone's vaguely familiar. *Just one more bolt. . . *
Hermione looked at the last bolt, the final bolt. The beckoning was even stronger. She couldn't resist it. She reached out to lift it—
"NO!"
Someone ran inside pushed Hermione back and began shoving the three bolts back to where they were before. The man turned around and glared at Hermione with his silver eyes. It was Draco.
"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!" He yelled. "DON'T YOU EVER GO NEAR THERE AGAIN!!"
"Yes! Okay, Malfoy! You don't have to get so worked up about it. You said I could go anywhere except the west wing— "
"Yeah, but you decided to go in anyway didn't you?"
"I was—"
"Curios? Well—what's that muggle saying—curiosity kills the cat!"
"Well, I'm no cat and can you please stop interrupting me. What was in there anyway?" Hermione asked.
"The dungeons. Nothing that concerns you," Draco replied.
"Oh, do you keep other *guests* in the mansion aside from me. I'm jealous," Hermione said sarcastically.
Draco glared at her again but she chose to ignore it. Her eyes wandered to the painting before. She blinked a few times. The boy and girl were now ice- skating.
"Malfoy, is this painting from the muggle world?" Hermione questioned.
"I guess so. They all are. By the way," He began, taking a closer look at the painting, "this happens to be one of my favorite."
"Yes, I kind of like this too," Hermione said softly.
Draco ran a hand through his hair. *I need a haircut* Gee, where did that thought come from. He just saved Hermione and the next thing he thinks about is getting a haircut.
He headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Back where I thought I told you to stay, Granger. And I need to tell Cogsworth to prepare one of the house elves to give me a haircut," He replied.
"I could give you a haircut if you'd like," Hermione said quickly before Draco went away again.
"What?" He turned around.
"Really, I can if you'd like," Hermione insisted. Was she just offering something to Malfoy?
Draco smirked, "Haha, I don't think so mudblood."
***
The next thing Draco knew was that he was sitting on a chair in his room with Hermione holding up the scissors.
"Master, you are going to look absolutely wonderful. Mistress Hermione will do handsome job on you. . ." Cogsworth said.
"Cogsworth," Draco warned.
"This beauty might also have the talent of hairstyling. Master, she's positively brilliant. . ." Cogsworth babbled on, gesturing to Hermione.
"Cogsworth," Draco said more urgently.
"Yes, yes, Master. A fine lady indeed she will—"
"Cogsworth! Can you leave Hermione and I alone please?" Draco said.
"Yes, of course, Master Malfoy," Cogsworth said as he waddled away and closed the door.
Hermione was smiling and Draco sighed, "Just enough to boost your ego?"
"Why didn't you let him stay? I need confidence if this is going to be a good haircut," Hermione lifted the scissors.
"Wait, one more question: Have you done anything like this before?" Draco inquired.
"No," Hermione said simply.
"Uh. . . maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Draco started standing up.
"Oh, sit down. How hard can it be?" Hermione said pushing him down. She noticed a worried expression on his face and Hermione tried to stifle a giggle and decided to tease him, "Relax, if something goes wrong we can always shave all your hair off. The good thing about hair is that it always grows back."
"How about the good thing about having no hair?" Draco said, gritting his teeth.
Hermione went around to start on Draco's hair on the back of his head. She lifted the scissors and snipped. Draco didn't dare move. As Hermione snipped away, Draco closed his eyes and took in the scent of her. She still smelled sweet as he remembered her in Hogwarts. Her hand briefly brushed his cheek and Draco felt a shiver go up his spine. Her touch was gentle and she was focused on cutting.
Hermione looked at Draco's face. She lifted his chin a little as she started trimming his bangs but her eyes fell on his features. He really was good looking. Smug, but good looking. His eyebrows were not as thick as Harry or Ron's were. They started thick then became thin as it came to slant at his temples. His nose wasn't too tall and definitely not flat. It was perfect. Hermione shook her head and her eyes wandered to his lips. They looked soft and gentle even kissable. Hermione slapped herself mentally and focused on his bangs again. She was glad his eyes were close so he couldn't see her blushing. Could it be she actually felt different for him?
They carried the whole process in silence. Hermione continued cutting his blond hair as Draco enjoyed feeling her touch on his forehead. Then she stopped.
"There. I'm finished!" She said.
Draco opened his eyes and was stunned when he looked at his reflection. His blond hair was neatly cut and his bangs now were well above his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and liked the lightness of it.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before? I mean, this is bloody good," Draco complimented. *Did I actually compliment Hermione Granger? *
*Did Malfoy just give me a compliment? * Hermione asked herself a little shocked. "Well I used to trim my longer ends. Actually, I plan to get a haircut when I get back to London—"
"No, leave it long. I like it that way," Draco said surprising her again.
Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I kind of like your hair loose instead of slicked back like in our Hogwarts days."
Draco did something he would have never done. He reached out and took Hermione's hand in his. Hermione's eyes widened and was about to pull away but for some strange reason her hand stayed in his. They gazed at each other for a few moments of silence and Hermione closed her eyes and thought about that painting they had both seen earlier in the day.
A/N: Finally done! Okay my second original chapter! Hope you liked it! For some reason I kept laughing the whole way writing this. And why did I put Colin Creevey? Well I still haven't found the answer to that question. Really, I don't know what came over me. LOL! Well next chapter will go back to the story. I hope I didn't rush it for you guys! Please review, and review, and review! *Laughs hysterically again! * Too much sugar for breakfast! Make my day and review!
Author: Mjade
Summary: Draco/Mione fic. One year after graduation. Ron and Harry go exploring and when they don't come back Hermione begins to worry. I know the title is corny but I named it that because the plot line is based on that.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and Walt Disney own Beauty and the Beast, the animation.
Rating: PG/Romance
Author's Note: Ugh! It was all the homework a.k.a. prison work. Man, reality bites hard! Okay maybe it wasn't only the work. I confess: I went out with friends for the past Saturdays, and Saturday is the only time I have to surf the net for hours. So I decided to finish it on a weekday! Oh well, another original chapter! And this is long so you better be satisfied!
Thanks to The Charmed One, kt, whatever22, hazeleyez, Beauty Full for your reviews. ~ lion1990- As long as she falls in love with Draco. That's all that counts! ~JamieGirl-Heh heh! You have to read to find out! ~*kittykat* -thanx. I hope you like this too! ~Elven Josefine-well better get your sanity back! Next chapter is here!!!
With Draco Malfoy worried about Hermione Granger, Lucius Malfoy's findings of Hermione's whereabouts, Harry Potter wakes up three hours before noontime realizing than his best friend, Ron Weasley, is nowhere in sight.
Harry painfully opened his eyes to the blinding sunlight. He groggily sat up, his unruly hair standing up in all places (a/n: He must have looked adorable and no, I am not being sarcastic. . . heh heh!) as he searched for his round glasses on the bedside table.
"Ron, get up!"
There was no answer, not even morning groaning from the next bed.
"Ron, come on! Get up you great log!" Harry called again. He finally got his glasses on and checked the clock. It read 9:07 a.m. He looked to Ron's bed about to attempt to wake him up again but Ron wasn't there. For a while Harry just stared at the empty bed that had already been made. Just simply staring.
* No. . . he . . . didn't. . . *
Apparently he did. Everything seems to be going my way, Harry thought sarcastically, gritting his teeth. He searched the room; the map was gone and a single apple was left on the table.
*Doesn't matter. I got to the castle without the map before…the apple? Not much of a breakfast, I bet Ron passed the baker's shop. *
Harry's stomach was growling. He bit into the apple, flung his coat around himself, and went down the stairs into the inn's lobby.
"Hey Harry! Hey!" A familiar voice called to him. As Harry turned he saw none other than the new Daily Prophets photographer, Colin Creevey. Harry groaned inwardly.
"Am I glad to see you! I really thought I would not find you! Okay, now I can fin—"
"Umm. . . Colin, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.
" I heard about you having another assignment to take in France, so I told the Daily Prophet I'd get the story and the pictures. Can you believe it? I'll be able to do my own story for once—"
"That's nice, Colin. But listen can you take your photographs later? I have some important business to do-"
"Well that's what I'm suppose to do. To take pictures on your auror business."
"This is not auror business, Colin. I have to go and look for Ron. You see he did something. . ." Harry trailed off and mumbled 'crazy'.
Colin did not hear it and said, "That's okay. I'll come along. Who knows? We may run into some death eaters along the way."
Harry sighed defeated and left through the door with Colin right behind him.
***
Hermione strode lightly through a narrow hallway, holding a candle, and the walls were covered with paintings and doorways leading to almost anywhere. The paintings did not move as in the muggle world, they stayed as they were. They were beautiful paintings, settings where she wished she could be, something she would long to see. She opened another door and absentmindedly walked in. She gazed at a few more paintings.
She looked around. Nothing in here was familiar. She's never been through this way. No, she can't be lost… at least she wouldn't admit she was lost. Hermione searched for the door and was startled when she found it.
* I could have sworn it was on the opposite side *
She turned the doorknob and stepped in.
She was lost.
And utterly alone.
There were several still paintings on the wall but one picture caught her eye. She stepped closer to it and could almost hear music. Snow was falling lightly on the ground. Two people, a boy and a girl, barely older than Hermione, ran outside laughing. The girl flipped her brown her with her hand, gathered snow, and formed it into a ball. She smiled mischievously and threw it at the boy. It landed on his face and the girl giggled. The boy smiled and went to form a snowball but before he could throw it the girl got him again.
* They look so happy * Hermione thought. Then suddenly the setting of the painting became sullen and the boy and girl looked terrified. The boy started to point to Hermione's right. . .
She stepped away from the picture as it returned to the same still painting as before. The candlelight went out and Hermione found herself breathing hard. *What was the boy pointing at? * She wondered. She turned to her right and sure enough there was another door. She remembered the two people's terrified faces and shivered. The silence started to become eerie. . . she started to walk towards the door.
***
Draco Malfoy rushed down the steps into the dark narrow hallway. The lights were dim. He could make out various paintings plastered on the walls as he went through the endless maze. He couldn't keep track of how many doors he opened, or at least tried to open. . . but he still could not find Hermione. Draco felt his head throbbing painfully as if he just woke up from an uneasy sleep.
* She could be anywhere *
As Draco went down more steps; he entered an even smaller room with even more paintings on the wall.
The door clicked shut, Draco tried to open it—the door disappeared but he noticed another door at the opposite end.
Feeling a little bit lightheaded, Draco opened the door just about a fragment and peered in. For a while, he stayed at the door. Then suddenly, he saw something or someone move.
***
There were four bronze bolts on the door. Hermione ran her finger along the bronze. She could hear her heart beating faster than normal and the silence finally frightened her but the door was beckoning to her, begging her to take the bolts off. Slowly she lifted the first bolt.
Nothing happened. It appeared to be a perfectly ordinary door.
* Right, I'm just being a bit paranoid. Well, I hope this door will take me back to 'civilization'—*
She froze. There was a light knocking sound on the door.
*Oh my god! Is somebody trapped there? * Part of her mind was saying leave, and she knew she should, but her hands took over. She lifted the second bolt.
And as on cue the knocking sound became louder. Her head was shouting at her to go away, she was getting herself into danger. But it was if her hand was possessed and she took away the third bolt on the door.
The knocking soon turned into harsh pounding. Hermione's lip trembled but she couldn't stop not even if she wanted too. The pounding noise ricocheted in her mind. Hermione closed her eyes and breathed deeply before opening them again. She had choices: simply leave, stay in the room but letting the door remain close, or take the bolt of and enter the door.
*Come on, Mudblood. It's just one more bolt * Hermione heard in her head, but it wasn't her thought. It was someone's vaguely familiar. *Just one more bolt. . . *
Hermione looked at the last bolt, the final bolt. The beckoning was even stronger. She couldn't resist it. She reached out to lift it—
"NO!"
Someone ran inside pushed Hermione back and began shoving the three bolts back to where they were before. The man turned around and glared at Hermione with his silver eyes. It was Draco.
"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!" He yelled. "DON'T YOU EVER GO NEAR THERE AGAIN!!"
"Yes! Okay, Malfoy! You don't have to get so worked up about it. You said I could go anywhere except the west wing— "
"Yeah, but you decided to go in anyway didn't you?"
"I was—"
"Curios? Well—what's that muggle saying—curiosity kills the cat!"
"Well, I'm no cat and can you please stop interrupting me. What was in there anyway?" Hermione asked.
"The dungeons. Nothing that concerns you," Draco replied.
"Oh, do you keep other *guests* in the mansion aside from me. I'm jealous," Hermione said sarcastically.
Draco glared at her again but she chose to ignore it. Her eyes wandered to the painting before. She blinked a few times. The boy and girl were now ice- skating.
"Malfoy, is this painting from the muggle world?" Hermione questioned.
"I guess so. They all are. By the way," He began, taking a closer look at the painting, "this happens to be one of my favorite."
"Yes, I kind of like this too," Hermione said softly.
Draco ran a hand through his hair. *I need a haircut* Gee, where did that thought come from. He just saved Hermione and the next thing he thinks about is getting a haircut.
He headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Back where I thought I told you to stay, Granger. And I need to tell Cogsworth to prepare one of the house elves to give me a haircut," He replied.
"I could give you a haircut if you'd like," Hermione said quickly before Draco went away again.
"What?" He turned around.
"Really, I can if you'd like," Hermione insisted. Was she just offering something to Malfoy?
Draco smirked, "Haha, I don't think so mudblood."
***
The next thing Draco knew was that he was sitting on a chair in his room with Hermione holding up the scissors.
"Master, you are going to look absolutely wonderful. Mistress Hermione will do handsome job on you. . ." Cogsworth said.
"Cogsworth," Draco warned.
"This beauty might also have the talent of hairstyling. Master, she's positively brilliant. . ." Cogsworth babbled on, gesturing to Hermione.
"Cogsworth," Draco said more urgently.
"Yes, yes, Master. A fine lady indeed she will—"
"Cogsworth! Can you leave Hermione and I alone please?" Draco said.
"Yes, of course, Master Malfoy," Cogsworth said as he waddled away and closed the door.
Hermione was smiling and Draco sighed, "Just enough to boost your ego?"
"Why didn't you let him stay? I need confidence if this is going to be a good haircut," Hermione lifted the scissors.
"Wait, one more question: Have you done anything like this before?" Draco inquired.
"No," Hermione said simply.
"Uh. . . maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Draco started standing up.
"Oh, sit down. How hard can it be?" Hermione said pushing him down. She noticed a worried expression on his face and Hermione tried to stifle a giggle and decided to tease him, "Relax, if something goes wrong we can always shave all your hair off. The good thing about hair is that it always grows back."
"How about the good thing about having no hair?" Draco said, gritting his teeth.
Hermione went around to start on Draco's hair on the back of his head. She lifted the scissors and snipped. Draco didn't dare move. As Hermione snipped away, Draco closed his eyes and took in the scent of her. She still smelled sweet as he remembered her in Hogwarts. Her hand briefly brushed his cheek and Draco felt a shiver go up his spine. Her touch was gentle and she was focused on cutting.
Hermione looked at Draco's face. She lifted his chin a little as she started trimming his bangs but her eyes fell on his features. He really was good looking. Smug, but good looking. His eyebrows were not as thick as Harry or Ron's were. They started thick then became thin as it came to slant at his temples. His nose wasn't too tall and definitely not flat. It was perfect. Hermione shook her head and her eyes wandered to his lips. They looked soft and gentle even kissable. Hermione slapped herself mentally and focused on his bangs again. She was glad his eyes were close so he couldn't see her blushing. Could it be she actually felt different for him?
They carried the whole process in silence. Hermione continued cutting his blond hair as Draco enjoyed feeling her touch on his forehead. Then she stopped.
"There. I'm finished!" She said.
Draco opened his eyes and was stunned when he looked at his reflection. His blond hair was neatly cut and his bangs now were well above his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and liked the lightness of it.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before? I mean, this is bloody good," Draco complimented. *Did I actually compliment Hermione Granger? *
*Did Malfoy just give me a compliment? * Hermione asked herself a little shocked. "Well I used to trim my longer ends. Actually, I plan to get a haircut when I get back to London—"
"No, leave it long. I like it that way," Draco said surprising her again.
Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I kind of like your hair loose instead of slicked back like in our Hogwarts days."
Draco did something he would have never done. He reached out and took Hermione's hand in his. Hermione's eyes widened and was about to pull away but for some strange reason her hand stayed in his. They gazed at each other for a few moments of silence and Hermione closed her eyes and thought about that painting they had both seen earlier in the day.
A/N: Finally done! Okay my second original chapter! Hope you liked it! For some reason I kept laughing the whole way writing this. And why did I put Colin Creevey? Well I still haven't found the answer to that question. Really, I don't know what came over me. LOL! Well next chapter will go back to the story. I hope I didn't rush it for you guys! Please review, and review, and review! *Laughs hysterically again! * Too much sugar for breakfast! Make my day and review!