After the snowball fight, Draco and Hermione sat on a bench out in the grounds of the Manor. Both of them were really quiet, but Hermione decided to break the silence. "It just occurred to me that I didn't thank you for saving my life. You could've left me to those snatchers, but you didn't. Thank you. I guess you're not completely heartless to let me die that easily."
"Glad that you know my true values, Granger", said Draco with a beastly chuckle. "Thanks for not leaving me to be eaten by Greyback."
"Anytime." They both laughed for a moment before hearing Theo, Blaise and Pansy having a good time in snow a few yards away from them. "Looks like they know how to have fun."
Draco sighed. "Yet, when I enter a room, all that joy seems to magically disappear."
Hermione's smile quickly turned into a frown when she thought about his words. "Me too." Draco was quite confused by her sudden statement. 'How could the Gryffindor Princess make everyone around her miserable?', he thought to himself. "All the people in my village say that I'm different, and I can guarantee that it's not a compliment. My own two best friends don't want to be around me anymore. They've moved on with their lives and pushed my away in the process."
Draco was surprised to hear that Potter and Weasel had ditched the brightest witch of her age. She did everything she could to save their lives and they tossed her aside like a piece of garbage. Now he fully understood why she cared about her father so much.
"He's my father, he's all I have left."
The words sank into his head like an anchor of guilt. "We could escape for awhile."
Hermione was curious as to what the Beast meant by "we could escape". 'Why would he want to escape his own manor?', she thought to herself. He didn't give a better answer to her curiosity until they were back in the library. Hermione stayed quiet as the beast inspected one of the bookshelves in the far corner. "Which book is it", he asked himself. He kept searching through every book until the words 'The Great Escape' caught his attention. He pulled the book out a bit, then placed it back.
Hermione was rather confused by his actions until the whole bookshelf slid out of view. Behind it stood a huge black and gold cabinet. She recognized it immediately, however, it was much bigger than the one at Hogwarts. "A Vanishing Cabinet", whispered Hermione."
"A gift from Borgin himself, or as I like to call it, another person feeling sorry for me." Draco stared at the cabinet with a bit o fury. "A creature like me doesn't belong in a world full of people like you."
Hermione knew that he didn't mean that last part as a bad thing. She opened up the door, and stepped inside, followed by the beast. Hermione knew exactly where she wanted to go. She felt like she was transporting through thin air, but staying completely still at the same time.
When that feeling stopped, she opened the door, but what she saw was something that she wasn't expecting.
There was a castle in ruins, and most of the ground was covered in rubble. "Hogwarts", Hermione heard from the beast. "I remember this place like it was yesterday."
"What happened to it?" Her voice was very shaky as she asked her question. Something so precious to her seemed to be destroyed so easily.
"After the second wizarding war, parents didn't want to send their children here. They assumed it was such a dangerous place, so it was closed forever." Draco was currently clearing a path to the door while Hermione hadn't taken a single step since her eyes fell upon the destroyed castle.
"But this was my home! Everything from my childhood is gone." She suddenly lost control of her emotions. She sat down on a stone and let the tears fall. Hermione finally realized that she had been living in a fantasy. Hogwarts was gone. Her heart was breaking right then and there. "It's like it never even happened."
Draco watched the sad girl cry into her palms. It made him feel ten times worse. He was only trying to cheer her up, but he only made matters worse, like always. "Do you want to leave?", asked the beast.
Hermione looked up at him with tears in her eyes and nodded. Draco suddenly never felt more like a beast than he did at that moment.
***
Draco hasn't cared about anyone's feelings for a long time, so why did he feel bad about making Hermione upset? Ever since she knew about post-war Hogwarts, she went to her room in the manor and refused to leave.
Draco tried to think of a better way to cheer her up. He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer, but after a few minutes of silence, he divided to speak up. "Granger, Umm..." He could feel his heart speed up. "Pansy has done a great job with cleaning up the Ball Room. Would you join me for a dance tonight?" There was more silence until Draco watched the door open.
Hermione's face showed no emotion as she looked at him. She was trying to figure out if he was serious or not, and if he was serious, was it even worth it? Hearing that Hogwarts was gone forever had killed ever little ounce of joy that she had left. "You're serious?", Hermione asked with a confused look. Draco raised an eyebrow at her question before nodding. "Alright, I'll meet you at the bottom of the Grand Staircase at nine o'clock", said Hermione as she closed the door.
When Draco heard the door click, meaning that it was fully closed, both Hermione and Draco had let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in. "What have I gotten myself into?", they both whispered in sync.
Draco regretted his words by the time Pansy and Blaise had heard the news. They had forced him into a bath and Blaise was on the hunt for some better dress robes that would fit his beastly form. "I haven't danced since the night of the curse. I was only trying to cheer her up. What was I thinking?", said Draco as a magical bath brush washed his fur.
"This is working out perfectly", said Blaise as he clapped his two candles together with joy. "The rose has only three petals left. After the dance, you can tell her how you feel." Pansy and Theo we're currently spinning in circles in joy.
"She's the Gryffindor Princess. I'm the unfortunate creature, dreading the thought of what once was."
Draco finished his bath and stared at himself in the mirror as a towel dried off his fur. "...but you still haven't told her who you are", said Theo with a straight face. Pansy and Theo suddenly stopped spinning to see what Draco was thinking.
That was when Draco's heart sank a bit. It was true, he still had not told Hermione who he was. Maybe it was the fact that he still had a bit of hope. He was a hideous beast, and she was the magnificent beauty. "You still care about her, don't you?", asked Pansy.
"I have since first year. Why did she, of all people, come back into my life?", Draco asked himself as he stared at himself in the mirror. Blaise and Theo had managed to find him a royal blue blazer with gold lining, and a gold vest with royal blue slacks.
Suddenly there was a coughing sound from the other side of the room. Theo was particularly holding the door open ajar while his clock head was peaking inside the room. Draco, Blaise and Pansy never even saw him leave, so they were a bit surprised at first. "Your lady awaits."
***
Hermione had the same nervous feeling about dancing as she twirled in her dress. "I haven't danced in years. What if I step on his toes, or worse, fall on my face?"
"I'm sure you'll do fine, especially for a princess", said the talking wardrobe. Once she had heard about the dance, she had spent hours searching for something that would be perfect for Hermione to wear.
Hermione was currently wearing a gold dress. The straps were about the size of ribbons, and a piece of yellow lace that draped over her shoulders and stopped about four inches down her arm was sown to the strap. The dress had a sweetheart neckline, and hugged her torso perfectly. The skirt part had three layers, each one darker than the last. Her hair was half up half down with some pieces pulled back into a small bun. Lastly, her heels were two and a half inches high with a rather thick heel since Hermione preferred high tops over heels any day.
"Oh, I'm not a princess..."
"That's peculiar, because the master says...", but Hermione will never know what the beast had told the wardrobe because she was interrupted by a coughing noise that she heard near the door.
"Your amazing night begins, my lady."
Both Hermione and Draco walked down to the grand staircase, but what stood before her put a smile on her face. The beast looked amazing in his royal blue suit, and the gold went well with her dress.
Draco, however, thought he didn't know the definition of beautiful until tonight. Her gold dress fit her perfectly, and seemed to bring out the gold specs in her eyes. Even though he liked her bushy hair, tonight her hair looked perfect as her curls shaped her face. Tonight, she was a princess.
They met at the bottom of the staircase, and Draco took her hand in his to lead her to the center of the Ballroom.
Tale as old as time
Words didn't need to be spoken for Draco to know how he felt. He knew at that moment that he was in love with Hermione Granger, and no curse could change that.
True as it can be
Maybe Blaise was right. Maybe there was a chance to break the curse after all. After the dance, he was going to tell her how he feels.
Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly
Draco tried not to make it so obvious that he was constantly watching his feet. Hermione seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Attempting to distract his mind from how he could mess up the dance, he thought about how he could tell her how he felt. Draco finally had the courage, and he wasn't going to back out.
Just a little change
Hermione looked at the beast as she danced. His grey eyes seemed to stare into her soul, but there was something new about them. When Hermione first arrived at the manor, his eyes were cold, bitter and full of hatred. Now his eyes didn't have any of that. Things were different.
Small to say the least
As the beast twirled her around, she realized that there was something still bothering her. There was something very familiar about the manor, the beast and everyone inside it. The huge chandelier that hung in the middle of the room, the huge letter 'M' that had been painted in the center of the floor, these things seemed to bring back memories. Hermione felt like she'd been in the ballroom before, many years ago, but she couldn't remember.
Both a little scared, neither one prepared
Now that she was dancing with him, she felt as if she was on the verge of finding out who he was. The nickname 'Granger' seemed to dangle over her head like a knife. It was only a matter of time till the knife fell and she knew everything. As she looked at his paw that held her hand in his, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. There was only one person who could be wearing the Slytherin ring that seemed to stare back at her.
Beauty and the Beast
"I haven't danced like that in years", said Draco as he stared out at the grounds from the front door balcony view.
"Last time I danced was at Bill and Fluer's wedding. It was with Viktor Krum. My friends and I had a wonderful time. I miss those days." Hermione rested her palm against the railing and sucked in a breath to push those memories aside. "I haven't had that much fun in years."
A slight smile appeared on his face. "You actually had fun?", Draco asked with hope in his voice.
"Yeah, I guess I did", Hermione whispered in a shaky voice which she hoped the beast didn't catch, but he did.
Draco sighed as the words left her ears. "You miss your father, don't you?"
Neither one of them looked at each other as they spoke. The dark and mysterious grounds seemed to be more entertaining, but when Hermione heard Draco mention her father, she looked at him with concern.
"Yeah, a lot actually." The sadness in her voice could be heard from a mile away. That was when an idea came to his head.
Hermione had been extremely cautious about entering the west wing ever since her first night at the manor, so when Draco insisted that they go back up there for something important, Hermione decided to keep a good few feet away from the rose. Angering the Beast was something that she never wanted to do again.
Suddenly, something shiny caught her eye. Draco had moved a large curtain in one corner of the room, and a large wall mirror was place behind it. The mirror had a black border with the words 'hsiw uoy sa' carved into it at the very top. "As you wish", Hermione whispered to herself as she stared at the words carved into the frame.
"It's a magic mirror. Just tell it who you want to see, and the person and where they are will appear."
Hermione stepped in front of the mirror. "I wish to see my dad." In an instant, he appeared, but David didn't look like himself. He looked tired and beaten up. Hermione spotted Ollivander's in the background, so he had to be in Diagon Alley. Someone seemed to be dragging him somewhere, and for a second she could've sworn she saw Cormac McLaggen next to him. "NO! Leave him alone!", shouted Hermione, but suddenly everything in the mirror vanished. Her own reflection returned, and her face was filled with worry. "He's in trouble!", she shouted to herself more than the beast.
Draco sighed as he glanced at the rose. There were only two petals left, but Hermione had been upset about her father ever since she arrived. His old self would put his feelings first, but Hermione came here and brought out the better side of him. "You must go to him", Draco whispered in a slight disappointed manner.
"What?", said Hermione with disbelief.
"He needs you, so you must go to him. Here, take this", said Draco as he handed her a smaller version of the mirror she saw her father in. It was a handheld with a gold vine that wrapped around the handle and the back of the mirror.
"Thank you, Malfoy", said Hermione with a smile. Draco's eyes widened as he heard the name leave her lips. How did she know who he was? He never told her. Before he could have any of his questions answered, she had already started to walk out of the west wing, and his life forever. Draco looked back at the rose to see another petal fall.
"Well done, Draco. True love always wins in the end", said Theo as he entered the west wing, followed by Blaise and Pansy.
"But why haven't we changed back?", asked Blaise.
"Because she doesn't love him back ", said Pansy as she already knew the answer to his question. Draco, however, was hardly listening . It had come to his attention that he was truly going to stay a beast forever.
"I honestly thought that she would be the one to break the curse, but now it's too late. I let her go." Draco wanted to smash the glass and tear up the rose with his beastly claws, but he fought against the urge.
"Draco! How could you do that?", shouted Theo.
"Because he loves her", said Pansy with a slight smile.
"It's too late. She knows who I am. She's never going to come back after everything I've done to her at Hogwarts. Blaise, Pansy, I'm sorry. I saw your misfortune, and used it to my own selfish benefit. I should have given you two some gold to help you out. And Theo.. you have to suffer like the rest of us because of my stupid mistake. You should have enjoyed the party instead of working for it."
Pansy, Blaise and Theo looked at each other before looking at Draco with smiles on their faces. That was when they realized Draco had truly changed. "Apology accepted. Come on, everyone, let's enjoy our last night together", said Blaise as he started to push everyone out of the west wing.