As they trotted down the halls to the first floor of the manor, Hermione took note of the possible exits and the position Laurel and Janus stood at. Her room was on the second floor and the only exits by her were the window outside and the front doors downstairs. There might have been an exit on the side of the manor, but she had yet to see it. Her main hope would have to be the window.

Andy led her to a small kitchen entrance. Dishes were levitating and being placed back onto shelves.

"If our wands aren't working, who's doing the cleaning?" Hermione asked.

"I assume it's the house elves, for whatever reason we can't see them anymore. They're still loyal to Dr- to…the beast so they cook and clean. I imagine in their free time they serve another or indulge in hobbies of sorts. They're able to leave the manor but even their magic can't escape the curse." Andy replied with a frown.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "That is one thorough curse."

Andy nodded and went to speak to the sink. She clapped her hands together and returned with a smile on her face. She shooed Hermione out of the kitchen and into a separate room.

The dining room was gorgeous. Many of the windows had large drapes cascading around them. Only one had allowed a bit of light through, and Andy was working on opening the others. Hermione sat at the large dark wood table in the center.

The manor had so many extravagances. The owner had to have been prominent in the wizarding community, yet she had never heard of this manor before. She didn't even know the owner's true name. The beast had the brand of a death eater, most of whom were pureblood. All the purebloods she knew of that were a part of Voldemort's crew were locked up in Azkaban or dead. She doubted he faked his death. Perhaps they missed them. Was everyone a death eater?

Andy smiled when she finally joined Hermione at the table. The small owl flew in and landed on her left. No, no one as kind and caring as her could have been a part of that. So what was the story?

Apollo and Janus interrupted her musing with their entrance.

"You're a sneaky one, aren't you Hermione? Sneaking off to the dining room despite what the Beast said." Apollo chided.

"Well, she could hardly be left to starve up there. It's not like the rest of us were eating." Andy replied.

Only then did Hermione realize that since they weren't human, they probably didn't have to eat.

"I have a question." Everyone turned to look at their guest.

She cleared her throat. "What, what happened that led to everyone here gaining a nasty curse? You mentioned it had something to do with the Beast but what about the enchantress? Why did it matter that he was cruel? Was he violent? Does it have something to do with the war?"

They all looked at each other warily.

"Speaking of the war, he's a death eater but I've never even heard of this place. Trust me if anything had involved one of his cronies, I would have known. I played a very prominent role in his downfall. You said you've been like this for three years, how has no one ever discovered this?"

Apollo scrunched his nose. "Still inquisitive I see. I guess that's fair we haven't really told you all that much."

"There's another thing!" She scoffed. "Every once in a while, one of you will act as though you knew me but I've never met any of you in my life." She looked around toward the four of them. "Sometimes it seems as though I have known you. It's like the smallest corner of my brain trying to dust it off."

"How about, after you eat, we take a tour of the manor and answer some of your questions?" Janus asked.

Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to ask another question.

Janus shook his head to interrupt the thought. "There are going to be some things we can't tell you. This curse… we can't go into the full details of it. At least we aren't able to speak them all aloud. Then there are some details the Beast wished us not to share."

"Well, that's absolute rubbish." She mumbled.

They chuckled at her childish pout. Her dinner arrived and she thanked the invisible elves and began to eat.

"I did have another small question though." She began between bites. "Can you tell me the Beast's name? I feel horrible calling him, even if he is horrid."

This time Andy answered. "Unfortunately, that's one of the things he'd prefer to keep secret. Perhaps if you ask him, he might tell you himself."

Hermione sighed. Hopefully, after the tour, she'd have more answers than questions.


.

The rest of the manor was fit for royalty. The walls were a cream color with dark trim and gold accents. While the invisible elves were sure to keep up with the cleaning, they couldn't hide the dark dim atmosphere that seemed to loom the further east they traveled. She wondered what it would've been like in its prime. The beast had to be wealthy, she wondered if they had thrown parties after the war. She recalled the dark symbol on his fur, doubting she would've been invited.

The ballroom was huge. Its ceiling was impossibly high, and the floor twice the size of the grand hall at Hogwarts. Its marble columns were dusty, and the drapes in the room were drawn. She saw several stains of drinks that were spilled, and scuff marks on the floor that led out of the room.

She heard Janus call her name. Hermione walked out of the two large doors to a smaller room across the hall.

The door was broken in the center, and the wood was jagged. Hermione hovered her hand above it hesitantly. She heard feet shuffling behind her and glanced back. The two enchanted men seemed solemn about this request. She turned forward and creaked open the door. If she had thought the last room was a mess, this was a natural disaster. Right, when you stood in the doorway you could see a large window with bits of glass shattered at its feet. In the center of the room was a circle of rubble. They looked like stands or displays of sorts. Surrounding the room were similar stands that weren't crushed the same way. A few were knocked over, even a couple were thrown. She crept into the room, her shoulders and back tensed.

As she made her way to the center ring, she noticed a lot in the rubble: dead leaves, fabric strings, clumps of fur, and random items that had no business being in a display room.

"What happened here?" She asked softly.

Apollo stepped lightly to a corner of the room and picked up a purple dragon hide-covered book. He traced his fingers over the spine fondly before turning to Hermione. "This is where it all happened, where we were cursed." He swallowed hard and gave a sad smile to her. "We didn't leave this room for a week. We-It's just…" He paused trying to find the words to explain.

Janus leaned against the doorframe and stared at the ground trying to maintain his composure. "It was still a curse Hermione, it was hard for all of us. We came from having everything: wealth, fame, significance, humanity…to nothing. Not even a memory to the world around us."

Hermione's heart ached at the pain. "It was our fault, so we can't be that upset by it I suppose."

A thick layer of sadness weighed down the room. Hermione finally snapped out of it as Apollo tossed her a dragon hyde book. She opened her mouth to question, but he held up his hand. "What's done is done, you can't change it, at least not right now."

She ran her fingers across the foreign title and began flipping through the pages.

"It's a really old book. It starts as Greek myths and fairytales but goes into different cultures' versions of the story. All of them from the wizarding world, I've already read it."

Hermione's eyes practically bulged out of her skull. She caressed its cover and clutched the book to her chest. "That's that is amazing, thank you, Apollo." He tipped his head and started walking out.


.

The boys kept having to snap their fingers in her face to pull her away from the book. She would whimper and drag her eyes up. Several boring portraits and ancient relics later, they stood in the middle of the wings.

"You know he wants nothing to do with her."

"But she should get a complete tour-"

"The West Wing is forbidden. You know that."

Hermione's ears perked up at that bit of information and for once she closed the book.

"What's in the West Wing?" Both the men turned to her with wide eyes and tight lips. "Well? What's in there? Can we go?" She asked as she started walking toward the wing.

"No!" They shouted in unison with an arm stretched toward her.

Janus sighed and ran a hand over his wooden head. "There's nothing special over there Hermione. That's why we were contemplating even bringing you there. You're just so absorbed in that book." He replied smoothly.

Hermione wasn't convinced but nodded her head. "Do you think we could take a break for a bit? I'd like to just sit and read."

They exchanged looks of uncertainty. Apollo shrugged his leafy green shoulders much to the other male's disapproval. "Sure Hermione, we can take a break. At half-past noon meet us by the doors to the dining room that leads outside. We'll have lunch in the garden."

She nodded her head with an apprehensive smile. "Sounds perfect. See you then."

They bowed and started waiting for Hermione to start walking away. She bowed her head and headed in the opposite direction. After about fifteen minutes of being in the East Wing, Hermione turned on her heels and practically skipped to the other wing. Once she had made it to the hall though, she slowed her steps and listened for any sounds. She heard heavy steps and the rustling of leaves fading away. She waited. A door creaked open then creaked close as the owner of the steps walked into the room.

She let out a breath and continued walking slowly down the hall. Paintings of ancestors lined the navy blue walls, but the people in them didn't move. Upon further inspection, Hermione realized that the people in them seemed to be frozen and faded—the magic that preserved them not working like everything else in the manor. This was somewhat beneficial for her, as now she could roam the halls without being yelled at for being a muggle-born in a wizard home. The more she looked at the portraits she realized they all had distinct pale skin, and aristocratic demeanors. The further down she walked she realized a majority of them had very pale blonde hair, and icy blue eyes. She stopped dead in her tracks in front of a large portrait of a man.

He had a stone-cold stare, fitting with his eyes. He had long pale hair and his nose upturned. His cheekbones and jaw were well defined with his facial hair, and he held a cane with a dragon. He seemed…familiar. Hermione leaned closer and read the name at the bottom of the frame, "Abraxas Erastus Malfoy".

She tilted her head to the side as she thought. "Abraxas Malfoy… Malfoy…Malfoy" she repeated. The word teased her memory. Maybe she had read about that family in a history book? That didn't seem right. Nevertheless, she continued down till she was met with a large dark oak door. She twisted the brass knob carefully.

How she wished her wand was working now. She peered through the crack and held her breath. It seemed to be a living room of sorts. She opened the door wider, the dim light of the room doing nothing for her vision. Once she was certain there was no one there, she stepped in.

The wooden floors had a dark grey rug that cushioned her steps. The furniture looked like the Victorian era. The mauve plush couches added to the sinister atmosphere. She treaded along the outskirts of the room taking into account the long drapes on the opposite side. Why shut out all the light?

Her foot collided with a frame, making it scrape the floor. Her body seemed to scrunch up and she held her breath. After a few seconds, she took a cautious step around the frame. Looking down, she realized there were several portraits along the floor that were leaning against the wall or lined with the rug. She lifted one up and frowned, all the faces were scratched out. She set it back down. The room was ten times the size of her dorm at Hogwarts. She walked over to a set of double doors that led to another room of the suite.

Navy blue sheets with a silver comforter styled for royalty. Dark wooded furniture, and a large window on the side. She tip-toed around the room and peered at random objects. Her eyes stopped and focused on something long and thin on the nightstand.

No. It couldn't be.

She picked up the long piece of wood and turned it in her hand. No question about it. It was a wand it seemed alarmingly familiar as well. It was about ten inches, springy, and made of hawthorn. It was brown with a black handle. Did she know who the wand belonged to? She waved it and muttered a spell to test it. Nothing. Disappointed but still intrigued, she held the wand as she continued treading about.

That's when she noticed the glass case on the dresser. She squinted her eyes at the object inside. It was a small silver ring with red and clear gems lining the band, and a red heart in the middle. It was beautiful.

Her breath had fogged a bit of the glass, and that's when she noticed how close she was. She took a step back but stayed bent toward the ring. She watched fascinated as a faint pink glow overtook the ring.

"It's magic," she whispered.

As soon as it appeared it faded, but with it, another red gem turned to clear. Absentmindedly, she reached out for the glass and tried to lift it up.

She jumped back as she heard doors slam with a loud bang. Large footsteps were stomping toward the doors to the bedroom that she was in.

The doors were thrown open as the Beast roared "What are you doing here!"


A/N: Heyyy long time no see. I have no words... Pity me though, I'm sick. *insert Karen's cough from Mean Girls* Anyways I hope everyone is excited I will be updating two chapters tonight! I have done a bit of writing while being stuck in bed so, enjoy! Leave a review if you'd like!