Mrs Potts came up to get Hermione when it was time for dinner, "Dear, it is time to eat."
"Thank you Mrs Potts," the brunette marked her place in her book and placed it on the bedside table before joining the teapot in the walk to the dining room, "Will Beast be joining us?"
"No, he eats in his room," the annoyance was evident in her voice, but turned lighter when she asked, "Where from England are you from?"
"Crawley, south of London but I attended a boarding school in Scotland for 6 years. And yourself?"
The teapot was so happy, there were very few British workers in the prince's employ, and she had already talked to them for a decade now, "I'm from Liverpool, but came over here in my 20's."
"And Chip, he is your son?"
"My shining angel," Mrs Potts said softly, "His father passed on soon after I fell pregnant, and then when he was 4, well we became as we are now."
Hermione nodded but said nothing as they had arrived at the dining area. Inside, candlesticks were lining a large table, much larger than necessary, and one seat was pulled out already, right at the head of the table. Taking her seat there, the witch was soon face to face with a candlestick who smiled, "Welcome, to your dinner."
The song and dancing that came next was wonderful, and the brunette was clapping happily when it was done with, before going on to actually eating with the many magically transfigured people watching on. She was unaware though of another who was watching her, watching her via an Enchanted Mirror.
Adam had been watching Hermione for the entire afternoon, since leaving her to clean the room she would be staying in. When she had removed her own mirror, he was surprised, more so when she began to talk to someone through it, telling the person that she was fine but would be staying in one place for a while; they spoke like siblings. For some reason the beast was unable to stop watching his 'prisoner' as she did menial things, such as reading for a few hours before dinner, even that had been fascinating as it had been a book on transformations.
She wasn't acting in a way he had expected, there were no tears or concerns, attempts to leave; actually it looked as though she was settling in for the long haul, until he gave in and allowed her to go. While she ate, she spoke pleasantly with his employees, getting to know them and know more about where she was, completely at ease. It was disconcerting to say the least.
Just then Mrs Potts rolled in on her usual trolley, bringing with her his dinner. As he was the only one of them who actually needed food to survive, she took greater passion with what was cooked for him. Tonight it was a large joint of lamb, "Good evening Adam."
Despite his many arguments with the teapot to not call him that, she continued to do so, so he had given up years ago, "Mrs Potts."
"I see you've been watching our guest," those knowing eyes had easily spotted the mirror; "She is fascinating isn't she?"
"Mrs Potts," Adam warned as he grabbed for the roasted meat, only to have it taken away at the last second.
The teapot sternly looked at her employer, and spoke with to him as the mother she had been since his own died in childbirth, "Adam, I expect you to be cordial to Hermione, despite what you may think I believe she our only chance to become human once more. She is not the one who placed this curse over us, and is a nice person."
The beast slumped into his seat, chastised once again by the former woman, "Very well but I will not become her best friend."
"I simply ask that you be polite, nothing more, and see where that takes you," allowing him to take the meat, Mrs Potts smiled knowingly, "You may be surprised."
Adam simply ate his meal, not thinking about what had been said, but his eyes did drift between the mirror still showing Hermione, who was now laughing, and the rose under the bell jar.
Down in the dining room, as she digested, the brunette was listening to the antics of Lumiere the former maître d and current candelabra and Cogsworth, the former Majordomo and current pendulum clock. They seemed to be friends but had a rivalry that could put Gryffindor and Slytherin to shame, and were now talking about something that had happened 20 years ago, when they were much younger and human, concerning a young lady that both admired.
"You know," she said, interrupting them, "My two friends Harry and Ron would argue like this."
That intrigued the pair and they asked, "And?"
"Well it all ended when they came to terms and ended up screwing each other's brains out," laughing at the aghast looks on the two faces, Hermione continued, "They've been married for a year now and are considering having a child by surrogate."
"We're not…" "Such nonsense…" The two furniture items bumbled over before rushing in two separate directions, leaving the witch laughing heartily.
The soft clinking of china on the stone floors was heard coming closer to her place, and Hermione turned to see Chip sneaking over, bringing a smile to her face, "Now wouldn't it be almost your bedtime Mr Chip?"
"Mama is up with Beast and I wanted to see you," Chip explained, as though that was a good enough reason, getting taken up in Hermione's hands.
"Well as nice as it is to see you young man, you need sleep and your Mama will be annoyed if you aren't in your sleep area when she returns," seeing the sulking, the brunette chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Fine but I'm not going to be in trouble when she finds out."
"Yay!" The teacup did a little dance.
Wanting to know more about the curse that they were all under, Hermione asked the little boy/teacup, "Chip, this enchantress who caused all of this, did you see here when she did it?"
He shook his head, "No, I was really little but Mama explained everything to me the following morning. She said how Beast had turned away this ugly hag who wanted a place to stay for the night, with only a rose as payment. She got angry and turned into her real self, saying that the Beast had no love in his heart and would be the beast he was at heart. We have until his 21st birthday to be changed back by love or we'll be like this forever."
Hermione was furious, "Love magic, no one should be able to control it at all, disgraceful for someone to do such a thing on anyone, no matter how they were treated. Beast, he must not have been very old when it happened though, right?"
"Only 11. He'll be 21 in 5 months, February 14th, Valentine's Day"
"What of his parents? Shouldn't they be here?"
Chip wilted in her hand, sad, "Mama said that the Queen, she died in childbirth, and the King, he was so distraught that he went off somewhere and they found him dead a few months later. Mama and the others raised him but they weren't his real parents, no matter how they tried."
The witch nodded, surprised that Beast was a prince, the locals must not have completely extinguished the French royal line after all, but spoke sadly, "I know the feeling. Come along Chip, you need to go to sleep and I do too."
With only a little argument that he wasn't tired, the teacup was soon in the cupboard alongside the other crockery, and Hermione was walking up to her room. When she was at the top of the staircase, her eyes drifted down to the west wing, and her heart sank with sadness for what the young prince had gone through, she had an idea on how he felt with the loss of his parents at such a very young age. Shaking her head, she went to her room and intently began searching through her library to try and find a counter for the curse on the castle and its occupants.