Disclaimer: I'm kinda tired of making up clever and witty disclaimers so I'm just going to say… tis not mine and twill never be.
A/N: *grins evilly* Well here it is… chapter 10 with a definite twist. I would've written more but alas… finals this week. Curse those sadistic bastards that we call the school board! *breathes* whew… need to calm down a bit. Anyway… loads of stuff in this chapter. But anyone who can guess what will happen with Hope gets a cookie!
On to further business… have any of you noticed those weird symbols on chapters of the story? They're driving me nuts! I don't know what caused them. Is it a problem with my formatting?
REVIEWERS!!!
*Canimal* Merci beaucoup! This chapter is even more twisty. By the way… update your story soon! (please?)
*Dropped Rose* umm… All I'll say is… I go to school in the southern US. I don't think you're a serial killer or anything (I hope not! :-P) but there are a lot of creeps out there…
*gohansfan* So sorry I took so long! But thanks for your comments! I like the Draco bit too, although I was yelling at Ron and Hermione the whole time while writing the dream thing.
*kaze* lol… I did update… though probably not as soon as you wanted me to. Oh well… I tried but… evil teachers and exams… *shudder*
~*Beauty is Found Within*~
Chapter 10
The galleria materialized in front of me and I closed my eyes to try and focus them. When I lifted my eyelids, I found myself not in the gallery, but in my own room, lying in bed.
That was strange…
I carefully tucked the parchment away, sheer exhaustion taking over my body. Little did I know that the small piece of paper would cause me an infinite amount of heartbreak.
***
Over the next eight months I became used to the huge, confusing castle and the ever-changing rooms. I visited the greenhouse daily, carefully tending and coaxing the roses into full bloom. But for some reason, I always felt a strange presence in the back of my mind. Something that I knew was there, but was never able to locate or identify.
The beast had also become dearer to me. I found myself looking forward to the dinners we shared each night. He was easy to talk to and was very knowledgeable in many things. I couldn't imagine living in the castle without him. Of course I was still extremely homesick but his presence reduced it somewhat.
But one day, I discovered something new about him… something… different.
I had been in the greenhouse at the time. I carefully skirted around sharp thorns and delicate vines to find my special bush and was ecstatic to find that a tentative bud was growing on it. I gently pruned and watered it, careful not to disturb it. "Please grow," I whispered to it, urging it with my mind to flourish.
Suddenly, the bud began to open. I gasped watching as it slowly unfurled each soft, velvety petal. Soon, it has released all of its petals and was arranged in a beautiful cup shape, it's lovely fragrance wafting out of it in a deliciously saccharine mist.
I sighed happily and leaned close, examining the blood red, nearly black blossom curiously. What had made the flower bloom so quickly?
I turned to look around for a reasonable explanation and instead, looked deep into a pair of bottomless silver eyes.
I clapped a hand over my mouth, smothering the scream that was sure to come. The beast drew back; chagrin and distress clear on his face. "I apologize." He muttered, "I didn't mean to frighten you."
Strangely, he seemed to have withdrawn into himself. He was nothing like the regal, aristocratic being he was usually. Instead, his manner was more like an embarrassed teenager, flushed and uncomfortable.
"It's f-fine," I stammered out, "It was my fault."
He stood there for another moment uncomfortably before saying, "I'll just go then…"
He turned but before he could I screwed up my courage and asked, "Do you like roses then?"
His face lit up with a tentative smile, "Yes. I think they're the loveliest things in the world…" He trailed off, about to say something but changing his mind. "Do you?" he asked instead.
"Like them?" I replied shyly, "Or love them so much I scare myself?"
He chuckled lightly. Emboldened by his response to my jest I continued, "My family has even complained about it. They say that I spend so much time with the roses they wouldn't be surprised if I turned into a giant rose myself, or as Ron puts it, "a massive thorn". But I couldn't, I love taking care of them too much."
"Is that why you come out here?" he asked.
I nodded, "I've been trying to save this bush." I waved vaguely in the direction of the rosebush. "But there's something strange about it. Before I saw you, I asked it to grow and it did… almost as if by magic."
He looked at the bush in puzzlement, then comprehension dawned. "This bush hasn't bloomed for ages." He explained. "Supposedly, it only blooms in the presence of one who is truly in love." He stopped, almost as if he had said too much.
I peered at him, "But I'm not in love…"
He cut me off, "I must leave you." he said quickly, "I'll see you at dinner."
Before I could stop him he had disappeared. I ran over his words in my head. The bush only blooms in the presence of one in love. I glanced at the single blossom, nodding in the slight breeze. I stood, still staring at the innocent plant. It was just like I said earlier. I wasn't in love. At least not at the moment. Harry had once inspired feelings of love within me but now I realized that it had never been love. Only a long, drawn out infatuation held in place only by force of habit. I felt almost saddened, "loving" Harry had been one of the ties to my old life and now… it was no longer there.
As I trudged back to my room I the full impact of my exchange with the beast hit me. He had said that true love made the bush bloom, and I wasn't in love. That meant that… the beast was in love? Somehow, the idea of him loving someone wasn't as strange as I thought it would be. It even struck me as humorous, the ponderous beast pining over any person.
Back in my room, I found the customary dress lain out on my bed. After slipping into it, I walked briskly to the dining hall, all the while imagining scenarios for the beast's mysterious love. Perhaps she had been his sweetheart during school and he was forced away from her. Perhaps they were married, and something happened. Or maybe she was the one who caused him harm, causing him to be torn between hate and love.
I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I barely noticed the dining hall in front of me, the beast seated at the long table. I blushed and hurried to join him. I ate detachedly until the beast inquired if I was all right. I told him it was nothing and cast my mind about for a topic to discuss with him. All of a sudden I blurted out, "What do you know about seers?"
I had searched the library each day for clues regarding Hope's situation. But as always, it eluded me. The only new information found seers was that they were often linked to sorcerers and sorceresses, a complete different breed of wizards. They had no need of wands or any other channeling objects, unlike Merlin, who could only perform certain types of wandless magic. Many of the Greek gods and goddesses were actually sorcerers who fancied themselves deities.
The beast peered at me, obviously curious about my choice of conversation. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, there isn't much known about seers, considering that there have only been a small handful of them."
I smiled, thinking of Professor Trelawny and her doubtful "inner eye".
"But what we do know is that they are extremely powerful in their youth. Nearly as powerful as sorcerers."
"Sorcerers?"
"Yes. Some historians have even go so far as to say that they are descended from the same source of magic."
I nodded, rather frustrated. I had already discovered this information and was eager to learn something new.
He continued on, "As babies, since they can't talk, although they develop that skill earlier than normal infants, seers sometimes 'talk' by means of dreams and clues they give to ones they trust."
"What kind of clues?" I interrupted.
He shrugged, "Just things like, objects moving or dropping to call attention to them, books opening to certain pages, and so on. A lot of times muggles attribute these incidents to things called poltergeists but they're actually children showing potential of being seers."
"Then how come the attacks stop after a while?" I asked.
"Most budding seers stop 'seeing' and moving things by the time they're teenagers. That's why there are so few."
I nodded (I seemed to be doing that a lot lately), digesting the information and lapsed into silence. After a while, he rose, bid me good night and left the room.
***
That night I tried to mull over the newfound thoughts but was soon ensnared in the arms of Morpheus.
It was Ron and 'Mione's house again. But it was different this time. It was obvious that 'Mione had redecorated and that the children had grown considerably. But it had already been nearly a year, it was to be expected.
Hermione was admonishing Harry, who had apparently gotten into trouble again. Athena was sitting nearby, barely acknowledging them as she watched Sesame Street on television. Meanwhile, Hope was sitting in her high chair, fussing slightly.
Ron appeared at the doorway, still in his pajamas and rubbing his eyes sleepily. Hermione looked up, a smile on her face to greet her husband. It faded when she noted the expression on his face.
"Did you have another dream dear?"
Ron sighed and sat at the table, "Yes. I don't know what to make of it. Every time I see her, she's either in a greenhouse or a library. But today, she was in this great dining hall and talking to someone. But I couldn't see who it was."
Hermione moved behind him and began massaging his shoulders. "Don't worry honey, we'll find her. Besides, there never was a scrape Ginny couldn't get out of right?"
Ron nodded tiredly and set his head on the table until Athena poked him. "Daddy," she asked timidly, "Where's aunt Ginny? Hope said she was happy… but I miss her."
Hermione whipped around, her face set in a slight frown. "Hope said? Athena, what have I told you about lying?"
"To never do it?"
"That's right. So you can't say that Hope is talking. She's barely over a year old." Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"But she is talking!" Athena whined, "she told me that Aunt Ginny went away but she's coming back today."
Ron looked at his daughter, eyes stern. "Athena, you shouldn't make up stories to upset your mother."
"But I'm not making it up!" Athena stomped her foot, "Harry heard her too! Tell them Harry!"
Harry nodded fervently but chose not to back up his sister vocally, reluctant to invoke the wrath of his mother again. Hermione set her mouth in a thin line to rival Professor Mcgonagall. "Athena, I'm going to tell you one more time. No more lying. No more talk of baby speech. It's impossible okay?"
Athena looked over at Hope who was busy building a tower of cheerios. She hesitantly nodded her head. Then Hope opened her mouth and—
Wham! I hit the suddenly, a bump appearing on the back of my head as I hit it on a drawer. I pulled at a dresser handle to raise myself off the floor but instead spilled the contents of it on the ground. Grumbling, I began clearing up the various odds and ends that were inside until I came across a folded sheet of parchment. Speculum Magus, I thought. After the first few times, I had barely even acknowledged its presence. But now… it could help understand something… something crucial for my continued peace living with the beast.
I unfolded the parchment slowly and waited patiently for the words to form. In a hushed voice I whispered, "Show me the one whom the beast loves…"
My eyes widened as the form emerged on the paper and I leapt up, backing away from it in horror.
Soon I was stuffing the parchment in my pocket as I ran to the entrance hall. Forget about the promise… I thought wildly, nothing's going to make me stay here. I ran outside amidst pleas from various house elves that had gathered around. I pushed through them and ran toward the gate, wand in hand.
The parchment must be wrong, I decided. But deep within my heart, I knew it wasn't true. Instead of showing the blue-eyed, blond-haired beauty I had expected, it had shown simple, brown-eyed, red-haired, haphazardly freckled… me.
