Author: Shinigami, Meg
Disclaimer: Harry and the gang and anything concerning Harry Potter belong to .Rowling and etc. and Beauty and the Beast belong to all those stories created especially Disney. But the way this is written is all mine, I call it appropriation using the Harry gang
Pairings: Dm/Hp, Rw/Hg, suggestions of Sb/Rl maybe even a dash of SS with them. Oh and a very infatuated Pansy mooning after Harry.
Warning: SLASH!!!!! YAOI!!! HOMOSEXUALTIY!!! Whatever term is comfortable for you. Though it's relatively mild since I'm not really a romance writer and this is a fairy tale.
Added: DEATH!!!!
An: Can you believe I twisted my ankle?? I'm on crutches... well when I was writing this I was, my luck just keeps speeding down hill, lol which is how I twisted my ankle in the first place. I was trying to be one the first back in this stupid race (which wasn't really even a race) and would have been pretty close in winning too... if I knew how to put one foot in front if another without making a complete ass of myself. With my luck recently, I'll be dead by next month.
An: That was a while ago... I should update quicker. Sorry but I usually re-read what I've written, and in the end I usually don't feel like writing.
Note: Oh yeah, okay the curse has been around for a while but I just wanted to say that the 'cursed' went into a kind of hiatus, so they did not age physically.
Oh yeah sorry if I misspelt Weasly... not intentional.... I keep doing it. Actually I don't even know how to spell it.
Thankyou to all reviews:
Louis the Sarcastic Muse (Thanks for the comments as usual, hehehe you make me want to write!!!)
Wolfawaken
Goldsilk
Lo26
Velven
Yams41
FadedGlitter
Ganymade
Chang Wumei
Didge
Silmarien
Sacred Moonlight Shadow (come back and comment properly!!!)
Interlude One
Ronald Weasly youngest son in the Weasly line that is coming after five brothers, he did however have a younger sister, and annoying as it was to have so many siblings grudgingly loved them all. He was brought up proper enough, and had found a well paying job at the age of sixteen with a contract for a year, a year. One year.
Then the master of the castle had to screw up major, not that he'd ever mention that to Malfoy. One tended not to speak certain things in front of certain figures with the power to decide when one should breathe. He was definitely resentful but liked to believe he was an optimistic sort of person, you had to be living in a family of nine.
But when you're a candlestick, life seems to want to test you're optimism. How did one year turn into ...so long he had forgotten? What kind of sick and twisted curse lasted that long?
Apart from being optimistic, he liked to think he was a kind-hearted sort of person truly, so which god had he pissed off that bad to be landed in this position in life...well the answer was simple, why did he take the damn job? For a year. One blasted year.
Well actually, that was quite easy to answer too, and never again will easy money lure him into pissing off the gods...again.
Ron sighed his fire swaying with his breath, but as an optimist he couldn't keep that up and anyway he felt quite sure the cute emerald eyed, ebony mop head arguing with Malfoy would finally appease the gods.
Ron grinned mischievously, well either by Potter's and Malfoy's own will or a little divine intervention by yours truly. His one year was definitely going to end this year. If he had hands he would have surely rubbed them together in an act of plotting... but since he was unmeltable wax and fire, without appendages a mock evil laugher would just have to suffice.
"Muhahahahahaha..."
"Don't tell me I really don't want to know." Hermione Granger answered back while in the middle of directing the kitchen appliances for morning breakfast and a start into lunch.
"Aww Hermi, course you do. Life would be a bore without me," Ron whined while trying to burn a metal teapot.
"We would have almost been charged with murder of an innocent bystander with you." Hermione snapped back, swatting his flamed sticks away from the harassed teapot.
"Well how would I know Malfoy didn't like older blokes like that ... erm.. yeah? He isn't that young himself anymore anyways. It turned alright though... no lasting damage done to the poor bloke, and a prospective partner!"
"Don't even go there, the poor boy has already had enough to endure, harassment, loss of freedom, taken away from family and friends." During her melodramatic speech Ron had decided the flame was running quite low under the pan. He better fix that up. "Ron don't even bother I can see you."
Ron pouted and decided to change tactics. "I'm sure you'd like to go back to studying for that scholarship... at where's-a-ma-what's-it. I don't think they accept clocks," Hermione glared at him, "So what if we just heat things up a little... help the passion flow."
"Because in all fairy tales theirs suppose to be a prospective bride! He's a male,"
"Hey nothing a little makeup can't fix?"
"Ron be serious."
"Loosen up Hermione. Love is love, Luna god of beauty never mentioned anything about it having to heterosexual."
"Ron we can't force them to love each other... it doesn't work like that."
"Eh why not? Master gets a bit of lovin' Mister Potter gets a bit of lovin'. It all works out."
"RON! Somehow I don't believe we're talking about the same kind of love." Hermione had turned five shades redder as she slapped Ron over the head. "Boys and their one track mind..." Hermione muttered under her breath while shaking her head trying to disengage her blush.
"How romantic... aww Lavender catch me!" Parvati cried out and swooned on the spot, her wooded bristles shaking with her. Her broom friend Lavender caught Parvati and they giggled.
"What gotten into you two?" Hermione said crossly, her minute and hour hands crossing annoyed.
"Lighten up Hermi... continue ladies." Ron said suavely to the brooms, which earned him another swipe at his head from one very annoyed clock.
The two brooms giggled. "Master Malfoy is actually carrying Mister Potter to breakfast! Oh my beating heart, slow!" Parvati cried in rapture.
"What no way!?" Ron shouted, dragging one bedraggled clock behind him Ron ran to the breakfast room to watch the couplet. "Well there we go, we'll be human by the end of the week if that keeps up." He whispered.
They hid behind the door, though with their size they could have stood out in the open and any cold hearted Beast or kind hearted boy wouldn't have noticed them. It was the systematics of the situation that called for it though.
"Ron have you forgotten that our guest has a twisted ankle?" Hermione asked quietly watching the two opposite figures at the breakfast table.
"Either way, Malfoy isn't being his normal egoistic arse."
"Shut up do you want to get us recycled?!?!?" Hermione asked her voice tinted with nervous fear as she watched her maser frightfully and wrapping her wooden hands across Ron's mouth.
Ron rolled his eyes, as he watched the new guest indulging in breakfast energetically obviously ignoring the Beast. Ron bit his lip irritated and disengaged Hermione from him, so far the love didn't seem to be flowing like his imagination was thinking. This had to be taken into his masterful plotting hands... err candles.
"We need to do something Hermi! The love seems to be dwindling." Ron said woefully.
"Well perhaps a chat with our new guest? Get to know him a little better?" Hermione suggested.
Ron's eyes lit up, either from his flames or from his overactive mind, "Brilliant! We'll get to know what he likes and then persuade Malfoy to indulge the guest. Or pretend it's from Malfoy! Ok Hermi!" Ron schemed, Hermione rolled her eyes her clock hands following the gesture.
It was true Ronald Weasly came from a large family and so had to prove himself to be able to individualise himself from being 'Bill's little brother.' Or 'Percy's little sibling.' He wanted to be known as Ronald, Ron a member of the Weasly family but an individual with his own certain qualities. His own person, his own name. He supposed that could have been one reason for him to have taken the one year job, nothing got better credentials than proving you've worked for nobility.
But what a draw back, one year suddenly turning into, well... not one year. Not only had he condemned himself to a cursed life of servitude till the curse wore off, he had also managed to stick his mother, twin brothers and little sister in the melee. And this was one fight he wasn't coming out off without some major injuries, that being said it was obvious why he desperately needed Malfoy to fall in love.
Love in and with, it would be a bonus if Malfoy actually gained a heart. He had to break this awful curse, he needed to reunite his family again. Father, mother brothers and sister, together again.
"Right Hermi, we've got to plan!" Ron grinned at the ruffled clock, her enchanting brown eyes narrowing slightly in scepticism.
Hermione had turned into one of his closest friends when he had arrived to his uncursed castle at that time. When they had first met, he had been cleaning the library she was reading. She was a minor noble studying, he had found her snobbish, and she knew too much. He remembered her frizzy bushy hair all over the place, her nose stuck close in a book. Concentrating as if her life depended on it, beautiful brown eyes.
Hermione had always had those eyes, intelligent, beautiful, caring and lonely. He hadn't noticed at first of course, but she was lonely. A butterfly trapped in her cocoon in a nest full of moths, she didn't make friends very easily, it was her intellect, scared most people off.
Ron grinned linked arms with her and waited for one Harry Potter to leave the Master's presence. They had some talking to do.
To the casual eye Draco Malfoy was a Beast, nothing more, nothing less. A frightful Beast that ate your children in the middle of the night, lured them into the forest, or tricked you to whisk them away. Well Ron had personally always thought that probably wasn't far from the truth, well all except the children. What would he do with a room full of children?
Malfoy had been a brutish, narcissistic demanding boss. Ruthless sometimes but most times he was all talk and no action, threats, threats and more threats. Ron had gotten used to it pretty quickly, but he had also grown a large dislike towards the man... or used-to-be-man.
Ron had always felt that Malfoy had deserved this curse, what better way to teach someone a lesson than to take away something of great importance to Malfoy. His beauty, something he had always boasted about, ladies had flocked to him and Ron could truthfully say he had been just a little jealous. A little.
Hermione had never looked at Malfoy with much more than distain or disinterest, but that was how she looked at most people. Sometimes though she excluded Ron from that gaze, which would make him feel slightly woozy inside. He probably ate too much chocolate on those days.
Ever since the curse though, Malfoy had become very antisocial, he didn't shout, order or do much with himself. The castle had pretty much fallen into disrepair without a proper head of house. Most days Malfoy didn't even bother coming out of his room, he was wasting away and Ron could only feel pity for him nowadays.
So one could naturally expect breakfast to be quite a short affair, which indeed it was. Ron didn't have to wait long before his prey was limping angrily away from the Beast, the usual response actually from many of Malfoy's male guests.
But Ron was going to make sure this guest would look differently, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were going to fall in love! Or his name wasn't Ronald Weasly.
Dragging Hermione behind him he charged after Potter. They met him outside on the castle steps, he looked like he was sulking. His face in his hands watching the outsides gates and freedom.
Ron coughed trying to get the ebony-haired boy's attention. Emerald eyes scanned the area for the noise and landed on the two tiny personified objects, Ron grinned. "I'm Ron Weasly, pleasure to finally meet. Heard loads about you Harry, may I call you Harry? So Harry how are you finding your new home?" Ron asked casually as if they'd been mates for years.
"Does all the furniture talk? I mean if you're all cursed, where's the normal furniture?" Harry blurted curiously, completely ignoring Ron's questions. He leaned down till he was lying on the steps so that his face was at an even height to both Ron and Hermione's.
"Well we put them away... there was too many things." Ron said bluntly, Harry blushed embarrassed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Harry said quietly.
"Nah I'm not offended, I'm finding myself to be quite useful nowadays. Oh yeah and this highly mundane clock," Ron waved to Hermione who was watching Harry quietly so far. "Is Hermione Granger." Hermione hit him on the head again. "Hermi if you keep doing that you'll make me stupid." Ron whined.
"Too late," she said highly amused, Harry laughed with Hermione, Ron rolled his eyes but grinned.
"I've never seen anything cursed before I came here," Harry said distantly.
"I've been studying up on curses actually, this one -" Hermione stopped and shrugged at Ron's glare. "Well it's going to take a bit to break it." Harry was looking at them curiously now.
"So tell us a bit about yourself?" Prompted Ron awkwardly, acting much too hard to look innocent.
"Well my father's an artist," Harry got up looked at the gates dejectedly again, " I miss him."
"Well this castle is like a piece of art, we'll show you around!" Ron said over enthusiastically, Harry nodded curiosity creeping into his features. The castle really was a spectacular sight, limestones upon sandstones, lines of intermitted and segregated colour, granite and onyx rock. Rows of masterfully piled stones which was put together to create towers or walls of a mystic or tangible quality that even Ron could still be amazed after years of seeing it.
Stainless glass sculptures lay lightly within the walls while outside held monstrously delicate carvings of gargoyles, their terror inflicting body twisted so brusquely that even the sinew and muscle pushed forth looked unbalanced and vulnerable. While jagged fangs laced their growling mouths, while effective in presenting horror, it showed a unique beauty.
Ron sat upon a wheeled table while pointing out subtle features that usually went unnoticed, but when one has lived so long in the one place these features tend to be more apparent.
"Well this where the castle's guard went when the curse hit," Ron explained pointing to a row of well-polished empty armoured men. "You know it seems quite funny now that they all turned into suits of armour. No distinction, one from the other." The closest suit of amour bristled under Ron's haphazard scrutiny. "Hehe... lets move on shall we?" Ron said slightly nervously.
The trio moved on quickly, Hermione and Ron sitting on a moving table while Harry following closely, trying to remember all areas of the huge place.
"Well the main structure of the building isn't too complex, as I've read it in 'The complete history of Malfoy Castle –'" Hermione started her lecture in a brusque but boring voice once they passed the suits of armour to a relatively safe area.
"Wait there's a book called 'The complete history of Malfoy Castle?' ... ..." Tense silence reigned for a minute. "Only you would've read something like that." Ron finally said completing his interruption and dislodging the tension.
Ignoring Ron she continued. "– it all really comes down to the dynamics of the structure of the building." Ron rolled his eyes, "While from outside this building appears to have a twisted and labyrinth looking features, the ground floor which we are currently in is as straightforward as it gets. This floor mostly holds, if I can remember correctly... starting from the entrance. It starts with corridor with holds secured doors to the 'underground passages,' now theirs a place which can truly be called a twisting and winding labyrinth." Short abrupt laughter, silence. "Well anyway... this floor holds the kitchens, refreshment rooms, servant quarters, dining quarters, guest receptions, community rooms, steam rooms which lead to the outside hot rock pools which of course lead to the ornament gardens. Truly beautiful that place, and is quite a massive token of land if I read correctly, covering a hectare or so of the surrounding forest made into a habitual garden. Grand really."
"Aren't you running out of saliva yet?" Ron finally asked annoyed that his tour had suddenly turned into an educational sermon of the structure of the Castle. Boring...
"Actually that sounds really interesting." Harry finally piped up, "I mean the garden, Siri and I are going to make our own gardens when he gets enough – oh... well we were." Harry quickly shut up.
Ron looked at Hermione uneasily, he scooted closer, "well don't stop now!" he frantically said.
"Eh... well as I was saying!" Hermione said trying vainly to cover up the building tension. "Not only are the gardens a sight to behold, nothing in these lands come close to the beauty of, one of the worlds largest I might add, Dance Hall... now that is a true account to structural beauty."
"It sure as heck is... you know a dance would be good for you and Malfoy. Exercise would be nice and..."
Harry was already shaking his head, "I don't want anything to do with that... that.... Ugh!"
The trio stopped as they entered the opening area to a copious set of stairs, Ron watched apprehensively as Harry eyed the area. "Where are we?" Harry finally asked his two guides.
"Nowhere of any importance! Right Hermi?" Ron asked quickly nudging the group away from the looming stairs.
"Huh? This is..." She quickly received a painful shove from Ron, "Oh! Yeah course, nothing here." They both looked suspicious and Ron knew it, so he decided to move them as physically possible from the area.
"Why don't you guys want me here?" Harry said frustratingly angling away from where Ron was trying to push him out of the room.
"Because Malfoy would eat all of us!" Ron finally shouted in panic, Harry spun around to face Ron questioningly. "It's the West Wing," he said giving in, "he really doesn't like anyone snooping around here."
Harry grinned, "What's he got to hide? Evil things? How about a peak?" he asked enthusiastically. Ron shook his head furiously. "Aww come on."
"You know the castle has a massive library kept in the east wing, quite close to your room actually." Hermione said, slyly changing the subject altogether, Harry fell straight for the bait.
"Really?"