A/N: Well how about that... I came up with a little finale for this piece. I also overhauled the third chapter so hopefully this should be a little more cohesive.

Enjoy!

Edited: 2019

Once upon a time in a far away land. A young Prince lived in a shining castle. He was spoiled, selfish and unkind, despite having everything he would need from live.

But an old beggar woman was to change the Prince's cruel ways. She had but a rose to offer him in return for shelter from the autumn storm. The rose while beautiful, was worthless in the Prince's eyes – it had no riches, no land and thus he had no want of it. He could see its beauty, but his gardens could probably produce better roses if he made the gardeners do it.

He cast the beggar woman out once more, removing her by force when she pleaded for his kindness.

"Prince Cormac, please." Even the croaky voice made the Prince scowl. "Beauty is within, appearances can deceive." She held the rose aloft once more but the Prince's face hardened.

"You have no idea do you crone? My wife has ran from me, made me the laughing stock of this court! She was nothing but a church mouse. Do not lecture me on beauty, my wife was beautiful and yet there was no beauty within her…" He snarled, knocking the rose from the woman's hand to the floor.

"Well that is unfortunate." The woman's voice had changed, her body changed; she no longer stooped but stood upright, grey frazzled hair melting into dark curls, and before him stood a very powerful sorceress. "Your wife is incredibly beautiful inside and out. It is you that must be taught that appearances are not everything. Maybe you find a woman who will be able to see the beauty within you."

"What do you mean?" Cormac had dropped to his knees in fear at the transformation, witches were a dangerous enemy.

"Until you can find love within your heart Prince, I will curse this castle." The sorceress raised her wooden staff to aim at the front of his home and although Cormac's initial reaction was to scoff, when the golden light began to pour from the end of her wand, he cowered back.

A flash of golden light rendered him senseless and when he awoke, he was back in his chamber. Reaching groggily for the other side of the bed, it was empty of Ginny and empty of anyone. Grunting, he rolled to step from the covers and looked out across his land. His once empty rolling view was now covered with thick trees; his castle was now within a forest. Stumbling for the mirror he was horrified to see the lean muscles of his body now replaced by thick fur, his once groomed demeanour replaced with that of a beast.

He threw back his head and let out a bellowing roar but it did not change his form. A parchment resting on what was once Ginny's pillow caught his eye and with clumsy paws he grabbed at it.

His eyes struggled to read when he was fully sane, but now his mind was a mess and he had to focus at the words on the page.

To end this curse, and to find the beauty within, before his 31st year, he must find love, a true love that is given freely back to him.

~C.C~

He did not find it with Astoria, nor with Tracey, nor with Millicent. They all ran from him in terror while bemoaning their own fate. There was no-one in the castle that truly loved him; they were all too concerned about their own appearances, which had changed dramatically. His courtiers, subjects and servants now ranged from animals such as himself to furniture. The mix would be comical if Cormac could muster a sense of humour. But he despaired. He was in his 25th year now, what woman would love him by his 31st if those he had spent decades with did not. He ordered for the castle to be closed off.

~C.C~

"Please sir! My father's life!" The girl before him was almost shaking in terror but she was resolute in her convictions. Her father would be spared for her own incarceration.

"Fine." He growled before snapping out an order to the coat stands who dragged the bumbling man outside to the carriage that moved of its own accord.

"What is your name?" She whispered into the silence of her father's departure, her eyes barely straying from the door he had been hauled out of.

"You can call me Beast."

"You can call me Lavender." She swallowed hard and without acknowledging the name of his new prisoner Cormac turned and fled to his chamber. He looked at the withered stem still across his table where he had found it some years back. Now in his 34th year, Cormac had accepted his fate as a beast and the rose had died on the night of his 31st. Snarling, he tore the hangings from his bed and let out a fearsome yell. He should have sent the chit home with her father and forgotten about the sorry affair. But he did not.

But he had not realised that at the next full moon he would find another beast.

A sleek grey wolf beast was padding through his home and the creature turned to stare at him curiously before continuing its trek through the monumental palace. Cormac sat back on his own haunches and stared in amazement at this new creature.

He followed the new animal all evening, slyly of course, staying down wind and out of sight until the morning when with a yelp of pain the wolf-beast changed into the figure of his new prisoner.

He had not needed to break his curse because this was clearly the woman he was to fall in love with. He felt the swoop in his heart and a tingle in his paws as he watched the woman pad back to her cell, so this was love.