Disclaimer: MINE!!!!!!!! IT'S ALL MINE!!!!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... ::ahem:: *looks around furtively in hopes that no on saw that* hehe... not really. The only things I own in this are part of the storyline, Hope, Harry and Athena Weasley (not Potter) and a few house-elves.

~*Beauty is Found Within*~

Almost five months had passed, and the doctor still had not answered our questions about Hope, despite Hermione's trips to the hospital every week.

Hope continued to thrive, growing into an adorable and incredibly sweet toddler. Soft honey colored curls framed a petite face that was always laughing. Hermione, Ron, and the kids doted on her, but she never grew spoiled.

On a more mysterious note, Hope seemed to have the strangest effect on people. Everyone who held her would walk away smiling. The most dramatic episode was when we visited Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione had invited me to accompany them to their five year reunion. Anxious to see old classmates, I agreed at once. At the reunion, I noticed Professor Snape sitting alone. Hermione, being the kind soul that she is, bade him to come and join us. At first he glared at us relentlessly, then, apparently deciding that we meant no harm, reluctantly sat at our table.

Hesitantly, I had asked him if he would like to hold Hope. His only response was a snort and a moment later, seeing that I wasn't going to give up, a brisk nod. As soon as Hope was situated in his arms, his expression changed drastically. Before, it had been bored, annoyed, and totally uninterested. The instant he looked into Hope's crystal blue eyes, I saw pain, regret, and overwhelming sorrow flash all at once across his sallow face.

For a long time he held her, just staring into her eyes. Then Hermione cleared her throat and Snape looked up, eyes brimming with unshed tears. His face resumed it's usual scowl as he passed Hope back to Hermione. Immediately he stood and strode back to the dungeons.

During the rest of the reunion my mind was elsewhere.  What had caused Snape to act so strangely? The question plagued me for the remainder of the day. Try as I might, I was never able to find the answer. I spent days looking through Hermione's collection of spellbooks but found nothing.

Soon after, things took a turn for the worse and I was forced to abandon my search. All around the country, strange creatures were popping up. Strangely enough, death-eater activity had also increased. The entire wizarding community was baffled. Voldemort had been defeated years ago, the few followers he still had were either in Azkaban or scattered and divided.

Nevertheless, the Ministry began sending out Aurors to find and lock up the rest of the death-eaters. At first, Ron was not called upon, but as the numbers of death-eaters increased, he was forced to go on several minor missions. Fortunately he returned safe and sound each time. But alas, our luck was short-lived.

I was at Hermione's house when it happened. I always stayed at Hermione's when Ron was gone. We were sitting in the living room, sipping tea and chatting about nothing in particular. Ron had been called away again. This time he was only required to help Hagrid round up a couple of wild hippogriffs. He had been gone for a week, at least three days longer than he was meant to.

        Suddenly, the fire blazed emerald green and a tall, lanky figure emerged from within. "Ron!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around him, "Where were you? I was worried sick!"

        Ron, looking both exhausted and worn out, sighed in relief as Hermione led him to a cushy armchair.

        As Hermione fussed over him, I couldn't help but stare at what Ron held in his hand. A rose, blood red in color, it's bud half open, revealing its jet-black heart. The fragrance from the rose overpowered me, it was deeper and wilder than any other scent I had ever known.

        "Ron," I said, "Where did you get that rose?"

        He sighed wearily and held it out to me, "Here, it's for you," he said sadly, "but you have no idea how much it's cost me."

****

        Much later, after Ron had eaten and rested, he was able to tell his story. After taking a deep breath, he began…

"When I got to Hagrid, he only needed help with five more hippogriffs. We took care of those in about a day. Then, a young sphinx broke loose and flew to the top of this *huge* elm tree. It took us forever to get her down. She insisted on asking us riddle after riddle, some of which were really hard.

It took us two days to get her down from that bloody tree! After that, I stayed at Hagrid's for another night. The next day I Flooed home. But I must have gotten out at the wrong grate or something, because the next thing I knew, I was in this huge stone room. I think it was a castle.

Anyway, the first thing that came to my mind was that I had to get home. So I turned back to the fireplace, but I didn't have any Floo powder, and my wand wasn't working. At first I thought it was just broken again, but even whacking it against the mantle didn't help. So I gave up and started exploring the place.

Blimey, you wouldn't believe how big the place was. I'll bet it was even bigger than Hogwarts! Well, I came into this room that looked like a dining room. It had a huge table down the center, loaded with food. I was famished (if you lived on Hagrid's rock cakes for three days you'd be starving too!). I wasn't sure if the food was poisoned or not. But it smelled *so* good. So I finally gave in and started eating. It was all delicious. Some of the food I hadn't even seen before.

Well after I ate, I got really sleepy. So I started looking around searching for a place to sleep. I turned around and saw, for the first time, this sofa covered with thick layers of blankets. The strange thing was, it was in a completely obvious place. There was no way I could have missed it coming in. But then again, my attention was probably drawn right away to the food.

The next morning, I woke up to another table loaded with food. After breakfast, I started exploring again, since my wand was still not working and I still couldn't find any Floo powder. The next room was a greenhouse, full of beautifully exotic and fragrant flowers. The most prevalent were roses. In every corner were rosebushes, climbing vines covered with roses, and individual flowers.

I remembered how much Ginny loved roses, and how much she wanted to bring Harry roses so I couldn't resist. I had picked a rose at random and began to tuck it in my jacket when I heard a deafening roar.

The next thing I saw was this huge figure bounding towards me. It stayed in the shadows as much as possible but I could still make out the silvery fur covering its body. Scared stiff, I dropped the rose on the floor. The thing came up to me and I saw that it was… I can't describe it… it was as if someone had taken a bear, a lion, and a human and put them all together. Large and hulking, with a huge silver mane, it towered at least eight feet tall. The most terrifying thing about it wasn't its body, it was its face. The face was so animal-like, and yet so human-like at the same time. You could tell at once that it was capable of thought.

'How dare you?' he roared at me, 'I fed you, sheltered you, and you repay me like this? By stealing my rose?! The thing most precious to me!'

'I-I'm sorry,' I stammered, 'I didn't know. I only wanted to bring this rose to my sister. She loves roses, and hers all died. I just wanted to bring her one to comfort her.'

For a second I thought I saw his face soften. 'But it doesn't justify what you've done,' he growled, menacing once again.

'Just tell me what I can do,' I pleaded, hoping he wouldn't want to hurt my family.

He studied me carefully, 'I only want one thing,' he said softly, 'your sister.'

I was shocked. Of all the things I thought he would ask for, this certainly wasn't it. 'No!' I said defiantly, 'I won't sacrifice my sister to take my own bloody life! I'm no coward!'

He answered coolly, 'I never said I would sacrifice her. I only want some company. I am lonely, and I need someone to talk to.'

'I'll give you a day to think about it. The rose is a portkey that will bring either you or your sister back to this castle. ' He continued, 'If you do not come, I will go and fetch you.'

He picked the rose up, handed it to me and threw a pinch of Floo powder into the fire. The next thing I knew was that I was here, safe at home."

I stared dumbfounded at Ron as he finished his story. How could this happen?

Ron looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. He was torn between going to back to the beast himself and leaving his wife and children behind. In an instant, I made up my mind.

"I'll go to the beast." I said determinedly. "Ron, you have Hermione and the children to look after."

"NO!" Ron shouted, "It was my fault! I should go!" He grabbed my arms, "Ginny! You can't go to that thing! I've seen him! He's horrible! He'll eat you up at once! I know it!"

"No he won't" I retorted, "He said he wouldn't."

"And you would take the word of a beast?" Ron said indignantly.

He was livid, I could see that he wouldn't let me go. I looked at him, then Hermione, standing in the corner, tears flowing silently down her cheeks. On instinct, I grabbed the rose, which was lying on the table. I heard Ron's cry of anger and Hermione's dry sob as I felt the familiar tug about my navel, wrenching me into a world of a million colors and sounds.

A/N: There it is! Finally up! I'm sorry I didn't get it up earlier! Well, we finally got to meet the beast! It took me a while to figure out how Ginny was to get there but I got it in the end.

*gohansfan* Thank you! I really like the Hope situation too. Sorry I didn't put any explanations in this chapter. ^. ^

NOT UPDATING AGAIN UNLESS I GET 5 REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!