Chapter 3: Welcome to the Curse
"Come to stare at the beast too have you?" He snarled.
She was taken aback by the sheer power he radiated. "No. I- I came here for my friend."
"Really?" he asked as he stalked around her. "Then how did you or your friend find this place? It's hidden."
"She-we… I, um… I followed hinkypunks here."
He stopped moving and looked at her curiously. A look of recognition crossed his face but quickly changed. "Your friend is a prisoner of this manor, she broke in and trespassed on my property." He took a step forward and bent over to Hermione's level. "Not to mention, she ruined my favorite rug."
Hermione folded her arms and raised a brow at the amused undertone of the comment. "She was lost and was looking for help. I'm sure she apologized. Please, just let her go. As for your rug let us take it to our camp and we can fix it with a simple spell."
He squinted his eyes at her—sharp grey eyes, as piercing as a snake. She couldn't help but feel a sense of Deja Vu. "Now why would I let my prisoner go, and give you my rug? That's two things I'll lose."
"Fine" she glared at him defiantly. "Take me instead. Think of it as a trade."
"You'd be willing to sacrifice yourself for her? You'd be willing to take her place?"
"Hermione no!" Luna shouted from behind the bars.
"Yes. Then you've lost nothing, you still have your prisoner."
He smirked and arched one of his thick brows. "What about the rug? How do I know she won't just steal it and never return? Or try to make off with you and the rug?"
"Well, how do I know you'll let her go?" She countered.
He raised a paw and pensively scratched his chin. "Touché…"
Hermione's face scrunched into a scowl as she held out her hand. "I promise if you let her go I'll take her place as prisoner."
"Done" he stretched out his large paw to hers. "Once she brings me back the rug, you'll be free to go. On one condition, no magic—"
"Why that's completely unnecessary!"
"—the whole way back and for the repairs"
Hermione gaped at the creature. "Why does that matter anyway? You know about magic, and she's a witch!" She shrilled. "How is she supposed to get back home?"
"Not my problem, what would be are a bunch of wizards apparating to my home. Need I remind you, magic got you into this mess!" He growled lowly in the next part. "You wanted some creature of myth to lead you to your fate? Well, it's time to deal with the consequences."
She turned her back to him and looked at Luna who shook her head. "You switch prisoners… and she's allowed to use magic to pack up and go home, but not for the rug or trip back. Finale offer" Hermione bargained, despite having the lower hand on this.
"Done" he snapped his fingers and the rug appeared in his hand. He handed it to her and Hermione rushed to hug her friend in the cell. "Hermione stop, I can't let you. How will you escape? You can't use your magic in here."
Hermione shushed her friend softly and squeezed her hand. "I'll be fine. Just fix the rug." She placed it in her arms. Hermione glanced at it and grimaced. Luna had her work cut out for her. Tea, blood, ash, and crumbs were scattered all over.
"But—
Hermione slipped the quill into her hand and saw her leave in the blink of an eye. The cell bars slammed shut, with Hermione inside. When she turned around the beast was gone. She slunk to the floor and began plotting her escape.
Late in the afternoon, she heard something scrape across the ground. "Hello is that the Beast?" she asked. She saw a green vine extend up the length of one of the rusted silver bars and inched closer. The door swung open with a clang.
"Ello beauty, care to take a trip to a nicer location," the voice asked.
Hermione furrowed her brows and took a wary step outside of the cell. "Who said that?"
"Right here darling" replied a large flower almost her height. She screamed in surprise.
"You-you're a-a talking tree?"
"Talking Rose," he corrected. "Simple mistake, if anything I'm more like a talking bush—a lot of flowers she gave me."
Hermione gave an amused smile as he mocked a bow. His figure morphed into more of a man's shape. The top of his rose was like hair—with his face being on his green stem. He had smaller flowers as clothing. "I'm sorry um… What is your name?"
He quirked his head and motioned for her to follow. "Theod-Um… Apollo… you can call me Apollo."
"A lovely name" she beamed.
He gave a crooked smile as they descended the stairs. "What's your name?"
"Hermione, Hermione Granger."
.
.
"Well, Hermione Granger, nice to meet you. I have to warn you though, you can't fall for me—my heart belongs to another." At the bottom of the stairs, they turned into a hall. He made a left at the statue of a beautiful woman.
The statue slowly started untwining from its original pose and huffed. "You aren't supposed to take prisoners from their cell, and you're NOT supposed to be giving them a casual tour!"
The walking garden shrugged as they continued. Hermione stuck out her hand toward the statue. "Hermione Granger it's nice to meet you."
"Oh, I kno-" Apollo shook his head. She coughed to cover up her slip. "Nice to meet you, Hermione, you can call me…"
"Laurel" he mouthed behind Hermione.
She made a face but continued. "Laurel."
The heels of her boots thudded against the light wood floor up a step of stairs. "So the manor and both of you are?"
"Enchanted"
"Cursed" Laurel smacked the back of Apollo's head.
"Cursed?" Hermione repeated. They stopped at the top of the staircase and exchanged a glance. "Long ago, about three years and a couple of months, a- an…"
"Enchantress" Laurel supplied.
"Yeah, an enchantress… she cursed the manor and everyone in it."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
Laurel held up a hand for Apollo and continued the story. "The master of this manor…the beast… He was cold-hearted, cruel, and unrepentant. He angered the enchantress, w-we all did. No-one stopped him… The enchantress was insulted so she cast a curse over the entire manor and everyone in it."They walked to the east wing but stopped at the door when they heard running.
"Wait" shouted a dark man. As he got closer Hermione saw that he wasn't really a man but a well-designed coat rack. He panted at the front of the door once he caught up. "What—are—you—doing bringing her here?"
Apollo pulled the coat rack to the side and argued with him. They talked at a whisper. Hermione had no idea what they were saying. The coat rack had intricate gold swirls throughout him and was taller than Apollo. He was larger too and seemed strict. She heard the coat rack sigh heavily as they made their way back. "My apologies miss… I wasn't aware that you were only a temporary prisoner"
Hermione smiled awkwardly and extended her hand. He shook it and introduced himself as "Janus".
"How very… Greek" she remarked. "I'm Hermione."
He nodded and clicked his tongue before opening the door. "This will be your room for the time being."
Janus threw open the doors to a lavish room that left her speechless. She spun trying to take it all in. "This is my room?"
"Would you prefer the prison cell?" Laurel asked sarcastically.
"No, of course not, this is amazing." She continued to turn around and search the room. She came upon the closet and tripped over a rug. She fell with an 'oof'.
"Hey watch where you step!" The rug reprimanded. Hermione groaned as she brought herself up off the floor to a standing position. The rug twirled and rose to almost her height. She noticed it was actually a rug and several drapes that turned into the shape of a woman. The fabric seemed to magically morph and bend into a face and Hermione tried to hide her snort toward the pugged-face woman. "What are you doing in the castle?"
Hermione stood tall and lifted her chin. "I am now a guest of –what do you mean castle?"
Janus rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Calm down Pans-errmm… Eris." He bulged his eyes and rose his brows toward her. "Hermione, Eris likes to pretend she's a princess in the manor, and that it's a castle. Pay her no attention."
Hermione nodded slowly and took a seat by the vanity. "We have to all go talk to the Beast… Just seat here and get acquainted." He continued.
Before they left Apollo peaked his head through the door and said "please don't leave this room until someone gets you…Oh! And do not go into the West Wing, it's forbidden."
"Okay…"He squinted at her. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing, you just seem like the type of person who would do the exact opposite of what someone tells them." She frowned. "See ya later Hermione."
"Goodbye Apollo."
.
"Draco just listen," the walking garden begged, "she could help us break the spell."
Draco huffed and glared at the view from his balcony. "I don't see how, and you gave her a room?"
Apollo sighed. "She was brilliant in school she helped Potter every step of defeating Voldemort and could always solve every problem thrown at -"
He grit his teeth. "She wasn't a bloody God Theo! I was second in our class don't you think I would've figured it out by now! Hell Blaise was third! We're not stupid. If the curse was meant to have a flaw in it we would have found it."
"You have thousands of rooms Draco. Letting her use one and try to help us doesn't harm anyone. Think about it, the wisps brought her here for a reason."
Draco turned toward him and growled. The statue stepped in front and put her sculpted hands on her hips. "Who gives a damn about fate? Drake—do you want to be a BEAST forever? I miss being human. All of us do, if there's even a possibility of breaking the curse I want to take it."
Draco scowled at the group standing in front of him. All of them, cursed. He paced around the room and came to a stop in front of a mirror. A morph of a lion, wolf, bear, and other creatures he didn't even know. The only thing almost the same were his eyes—a gloomy grey now filled with guilt. "What have you guys told her so far?"
"Well for starters none of us have actually told her our real names. I don't think she has any memory of us, and she was Theo's potions partner at one point." The coat rack replied, pointing to the flowers.
Draco turned on his heels and raised a brow. "I go by Apollo now" Theo replied. He turned to the rest of the group and listed their names. "I named Daphne Laurel, ya know my lover." She groaned. "Blaise is Janus, I don't know how he came up with it, and Pansy is Eris probably because that's her one trait—heiress."
Pansy flipped Theo off but said nothing. Blaise stepped toward the mirror Draco was looking into. "Do you think she'd remember you?"
Draco shrugged and looked at everyone's reflection. "Probably, she for sure noticed my scar—I mean how can you forget a monster?"
Blaise placed his wooden arm onto Draco's shoulder. "There's only one way to find out."
.
The group hurried over to Hermione's quarters, each of them giving some form of a tip to Draco. Don't make her scared, don't infuriate her, and don't lose his temper. He grew frustrated and yanked at his fur. "Enough!" He shouted. "Look I'll eat dinner with her, and we'll see if she recognizes me okay?"
They nodded and waited for him to knock on the door. He took a deep breath in and exhaled. He pounded on the door with his big fist. "Meet me for dinner in ten minutes."
"No" she replied.
He gawked at the door and looked to his group of friends. They motioned for him to try again. "Meet me for dinner in ten minutes…please" he repeated slightly annoyed.
"No!"
"Why not?" He asked in frustration.
"I refuse to have dinner with you. You—you're a monster who hurt my friend and might do worse to me!"
"You're just an annoying stubborn witch! You'd rather die of hunger than eat with me?"
"YES"
"Then starve!" He roared and turned on his heels. "See if I care!" He glared at his friends. "If she doesn't want to eat with me she doesn't eat at all!" He threatened.
He marched back to his room a rubbed his palm over his face. "She's every bit as infuriating as I remember."
Hermione shoved her face into a purple pillow and screamed in frustration. None of her magical items are working properly. For a small second, she wondered if Luna ever made it back to camp. She heard a small knock on the door. "Go away!" She shouted.
"It's not the Beast dear." Hermione shoots up and walks slowly to the door. She recognizes that voice.
She opens the door to reveal an older woman made out of parchment and a baby owl. The woman was made entirely out of folded and rolled parchment, with ink swirls all over her dress, and outlining her facial features. For some reason, she seemed to be more human-esque than the others in the manor, and she felt familiar. She stared at the woman, and tried to register the facial features, but couldn't make the connection. "Hello, who are you?"
The lady threw her arms around Hermione and squeezed so tight Hermione was sure she'd get paper cuts. "Sorry," she said as she unwrapped herself from Hermione. "I'm a hugger."
"It's ok." The lady sucked her teeth and muttered about silly kids and their names.
"My name is Andy, and this is-"
The owl chirped in glee. "You can call me Teddy, everyone else does."
Hermione cooed and reached to pet the tiny light brown owl and he tweeted in glee; "nice to meet you, Andy and Teddy." The name Teddy rolled off her tongue and made her brows knit together. Why did those names sound so familiar?
"Something troubling you my dear," Andy asked.
Hermione sighed and opened the door to let her company in. "No… Nothing, other than having my friend kidnapped and injured by a death eater having to trade places with her in order to escape, my magic not working and that Beast being an insufferable prat, everything is fine." She ranted.
Andromeda stepped closer and rubbed her back maternally. Hermione seemed to deflate and rested her head on the woman's shoulder. "You poor child, you've had quite the day." She nodded absentmindedly. The older woman perked up and lifted Hermione off her shoulder. "You know what you need?"
"What?"
"Some warm cookies and milk." Hermione's stomach growled at the mention of food, which made the paper woman chuckle. "A proper dinner then," she suggested and stood up to lead the way. Hermione's brows knitted as they walked away from the tall cream doors.
"But I thought he said if she doesn't eat with me then she doesn't eat at all?"
Andromeda rolled her eyes and dismissed that idea with a wave of her hand. "Poppycock. You're starving, come."
Hermione shrugged and followed the paper woman. She wondered if Andy knew about magic and if she was once a witch. What type of witch was she? She wore wizard dress robes, but simplistic ones. Her hair was pulled up into a swirly up-do. The paper woman reminded her of Mary Poppins. She seemed kind; everyone in the manor did—except the Beast. Why is that? Who is the Beast?
A/N: Hi thank you, everyone, who has reviewed! It made me SO excited! Please continue doing it and if you're just reading still thank you. Sorry it took a while to edit. My life is kind of all over the place. I really liked introducing the beast and I can't wait for the next few chapters. How am I doing?
:)
Sneak Peek at next chapter:
As she made her way to the center ring, she noticed a lot in the rubble: dead leaves, fabric strings, clumps of fur, random items that had no business being in a display room. "What happened here?" She asked softly.
