Authors Note: Hello my wonderful readers and reviewers! Please continue to do so, if you have time to spare. They mean a lot to me! Aright I hope you enjoy chapter 2! Oh, I've decided to add chapter names.

Chapter 2: The Curse

Draco's eyelids slowly fluttered open from his sleep, the world still groggy around him. He awoke with this awful throbbing pain in his skull and his whole body ached. He had this terrible dream of meeting a horrendous old lady at the lake, something about fetching water for her. He had no idea what that was about and frankly, he didn't care. His vision becoming clearer, he sat up from where he previously was sleeping and looked around. He was still at the lake.

What the hell? Did I fall asleep out here?

He proceeded to run his hand through his normally silky smooth hair but all he felt was thick, rugged tufts. Tuft that felt like fur.

No, no, no, no, no. That old lady wasn't real. That whole water fetching thing wasn't real. That chant thing wasn't real.

Rushing to the water bank, he looked down in the calm, blue water, half afraid of what he was about to see, half hoping he still looked like his handsome self. But all he saw was a fur covered head, thick, rough fur, running down his whole body, with the exception of part of his face, which by the looks of it, made him wish fur covered that too.

His perfect face was gone. A series of scars and open gashes covered a majority of his face. His nose, high cheekbones, perfect lips and defined jaw line were gone-and replaced with ugly. He could hardly believe it was him, or recognize anything from his previous self. The only thing he could recognize was his eyes. Grey as usual.

My god! What the hell is going on? This isn't happening. Things like this don't happen to me.

Draco. Calm down. You are fine. That old lady was just some old hag playing a joke on me. Just fix yourself and everything will be fine. Everything will work out. You are Draco Malfoy. Son of Lucius Malfoy, Son of-

His thoughts were interrupted by the rising sun. He squinted at the sun, which was still rising. He had time. No one could see him like this. By the time everyone woke up he could be his normal self and put this whole thing behind him. Looking around him, he found his belongings, ripped apart, due to his growth in size he assumed. Rummaging through the shreds, he found nothing. Nothing was around him, except the torn fabric from his robe and his broom.

The stupid old bitch turned me into this god forsaken monster, and then took my wand too.

Draco began to scream his lungs out. Taking one last glance in the water, he saw that he really was a hideous looking beast and that it wasn't a figment of his imagination. Thinking, with no wand and no idea what happened to him, he only thought of one thing he could do.

He was going to go to Dumbledore. And so he did. He grabbed his broom and flew away as fast as he possibly could and sprinted away to Dumbledore's office.

Thank god I didn't run into anyone. Draco didn't know how he would react, or how anyone one else you saw him would.

Standing awkwardly in front of the gargoyles Draco remembered that loony Dumbledore had a password.

"Is it Chocolate Frogs?" "Lemon Drops?" "Dumbledore is the best!" "Dumbledore is the greatest?" "I love Dumbledore!"

"Why me?" he screamed out loud, looking up at the ceiling, as if looking for a sign.

"Why hello there Draco," Dumbledore said pleasantly behind him.

"Professor Dumbledore" he turned around. "How'd you know it was me? What happened to me? Why am I like this?"

"I simply knew. And I have an idea on what has occurred to you. Maybe you should come in," Dumbledore said calmly. "Pygmy Puffs". The entrance to his office was opened and revealed and he motioned for Draco to enter then proceeded to follow him. Once inside Draco's questions came flooding out.

"What happened to me? Why am I like this? Who did this me?" Draco asked urgently.

"All in good time, all in good time." Dumbledore told him.

"What's that even suppose to mean?" Draco asked, amazed at how calm Dumbledore could be when something like Draco's appearance was a stake. The nerve of that old man!

"My god, can you please say something the people of normalcy can understand?" he furiously demanded.

Dumbledore stood up and closely examined Draco. Once satisfied, he simply said, "Esmeralda."

Draco now more confused than ever looked livid. "Who the hell is Esmeralda?" he practically shouted.

"There is a tale of an old god named Esmeralda. She was a descent of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. Esmeralda was beautiful, and men fell at her feet. When she finally found the man she believed to be her true love, she thought that nothing could or would tear them apart. So she tested him. She turned herself into an ugly lady and greeted her love, to see if he would treat her with the kindness he treated her beautiful self with. Instead of the kindness she expected, he was foul, harsh and looked at her with disgust and disdain. Esmeralda was appalled that she had fallen in love with such a shallow man. Since then she vowed she would rid the world of vanity."

"What? So she decided to exterminate all the people who cared about their looks? How does that solve anything? That's a majority of the world!" Draco retorted.

"Not exterminate. Esmeralda put a curse on you, one that would cause you to remain a beast until you-"

He was cut off by Draco's annoyed words. "Until I what exactly?" He scoffed. "I'm not even vain. I'll apologize to Luna okay?"

"Mr. Malfoy, it is not that simple. You see, the curse says you have one year to find someone that will love you for you. Not your appearance."

"Oh yeah, that will be a breeze. Especially looking like this." Draco told him sarcastically. "What do you mean love? So can I pay someone to tell me they love me?"

Dumbledore just shook his head.

"Real love, Draco, comes from within the heart." He paused, waiting for a retort from Draco but didn't hear anything.

"I suppose you want to know about your living arrangements. I've already owled your father and he's decided that it's best for you to spend your time with the curse away from other students."

Draco wasn't surprised at this news at all. His father would never want to associate with a son that looked the way he did. It would be a disgrace to the Malfoy name.

"You will be living in a small cabin in the forbidden forest. This was under request of your father. The forest is a place you can be able to contemplate your identity and who you are. Of course, you will still have an education here at Hogwarts. All the professors will be informed with your situation and will visit you to teach you."

Draco sighed, but it came out as more of a gruff. How can this happen to him? "Professor, are you sure there is nothing you can do to rid me of this- curse?"

"No, I'm afraid there's not."

"But, you're the most powerful wizard in the world? How can you not?"

"There is absolutely nothing I can do about the situation you were unfortunately placed in." Dumbledore said sympathetically.

Draco wanted to believe him, in that nothing could be done, but for some reason, the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye's told him to think otherwise.

"Oh, and your wand" Dumbledore said, as he reached into a pocket of his robes. "Are you ready to apparate to your new home?"

"Ready as I'll ever be" he grudgingly said, as he took Dumbledore's arm.

End Chapter.

Author's Note: So when I was describing Draco's beastly-ness I sort of made it vague so you could picture how he looked as a beast. I hope you liked it! Please review, they make me so happy to get feedback!