Harry Potter 1. Prologue

**Beauty and the Beast**

**Prologue**

Our story begins on a cold winter's night. Thunder rumbled and lightning crashed in the pitch-black sky. Towering above all the leaves that rustled in the wind, there was a house. It was an extraordinary house with black, wrought iron gates and many floors. Roaming in the perfectly-trimmed lawns of the exquisite garden, were about five albino-white peacocks. This house was home to an extremely rich family.

This house was home to the Malfoys.

Draco Malfoy trudged downstairs at the sound of somebody knocking at the door. '_Who could this possibly be?_' he thought. Not many people ever came to Malfoy Manor – it was surrounded by a large dark forest that nobody ever dared enter. '_Disturbing me from my sleep._'

He sighed and pulled open the door. There was a torrent of rain pouring down from the sky. Staring back at him was an old, extremely-fragile looking woman, dressed in a black cloak that was ripped, torn and soaking wet. Her hood was up but her white hair – spiralling down past her shoulders – stood out against her black cloak.

"What do you want?" He ordered.

"Please…I've nowhere to stay tonight. Take this," she said, and with a wave of her hand, there before him was a single rose, "in return for shelter for the night."

Draco studied her for a moment. Appalled at her haggard, fatigued appearance, he turned her away.

The old woman's ugliness suddenly melted away. There before him, was an extremely beautiful enchantress. Her hair turned from bleak white strands to golden curls that cascaded down her back and the wrinkles on her face disappeared.

Draco was speechless. "I'm sorry…come in –"

She shook her head pitifully. "It's alright. I've seen that there is no good in your heart. You are foul," she spat, and waved her wand in his direction. He felt like two hands were reaching inside him and tearing him in two. The pain was excruciating. The irises of his normally stormy grey eyes turned blood-red and his perfectly white teeth grew into razor sharp fangs. "It's time you looked like what you are on the inside – a beast."

"No…no I'll do anything!" He pleaded.

"Until you learn to love, every month from tonight, you shall turn into this." She held up a mirror so that he could see himself. "If you learn to love by the time you reach your twenty first year, the spell will be broken. If not…you shall remain a beast for ever."

And with that she disappeared and the mirror clattered onto the floor, along with the single rose she had offered him in return for shelter.

Ashamed by his appearance, he fell into despair…for who could ever love a beast?


	2. Chapter One: First Sight

_**I know…you all hate me right? So I know it's been like…what? Three months?**_

_**Whatever.**_

_**So it's been ages since I updated this story and I'm sorry…I guess I got sidetracked with other stories and school and BLAH :**_

_**But don't you worry my lovely little lemon drops, I'M BACK! HEHE!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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**Chapter One - First Sight**

"Ugh…my head." Draco groaned, taking a swig of Firewhiskey. He was sat at a table in The Three Broomsticks, with his old friend Blaise Zabini sat across from him.

"You know," Blaise said, "drinking that won't help."

Draco ignored this, taking another sip. "Was it a rough one last night?" Blaise asked.

The blonde nodded glumly, massaging his temples as if doing so would make the pain disappear. "Very. One of the worst transformations I've had so far."

A year had passed since the enchantress had turned up at Malfoy Manor. Draco was now twenty, and had one more year to break the spell she had cast.

"Any luck with the ladies lately?"

"None whatsoever." Draco shook his head. "Let's just face it, Blaise, I'm doomed to be stuck like this forever." He snapped.

Of course, Draco looked like his normal self right now; pale-faced, blonde-haired and stormy grey eyes. It was every month when his transformations took place. On the last day of each month, scars would cut his face and body like he was being slashed with an invisible sword, venomous fangs would grow in his mouth, sending immense pain vibrating through his entire body. His stormy grey irises would melt away, only to be replaced with blood-red ones. However, the next morning, as soon as the sun rose, he returned to looking like his normal self. The only sign that anything had ever happened were the scars left on his hands and arms the day after, which healed quickly anyway.

During the first few transformations he went through, he had seriously injured a few people. His first victim was a teenager from the local area. He bit her, sending poison from his fangs into her bloodstream and well, he couldn't remember what had happened to her (or any of his other victims, for that matter) after that.

"How could a girl ever learn to love someone who turns into a monster every other fortnight?"

"Have you even tried, Draco?" Blaise asked bluntly.

"Of course I have!" He exclaimed.

"When?"

Draco opened his mouth to say something, before realising there _was_ nothing to say. It was true – since his first transformation, Draco had completely isolated himself from society, only ever socialising with one person; Blaise. Most of the time he stayed inside the stone walls and coldness of Malfoy Manor, holding the mirror the enchantress had given him, which was charmed to let him see anything, anything he wanted. Another thing he did frequently was examine the rose she had offered, and gradually, the delicate pink petals of it had started to fall off, symbolising his one year that remained in which he had to find true love.

"Exactly." Muttered Blaise, but he wasn't concentrating on the conversation anymore. His eyes were fixed on something else, and whatever it was, he was watching it intently.

He looked back at Draco. "Hey," he hissed, "see that girl over there? The tall one, with brown hair?" He nodded discretely in the girl's direction. "Haven't seen her before. You should give it a shot."

"I don't know if it's a good idea, Blaise."

"Just look at her, will you?"

Draco turned around casually. She really was beautiful – her long brown, curly hair tumbled around her petite shoulders. She smiled at something the barman said, showing two rows of perfect white teeth. Her huge, shimmering blue eyes lit up when she laughed. Her skin was light and completely flawless. Even sat down, you could tell she was tall, and she was slim. Overall (for first impressions at least) she was perfect.

Suddenly she looked up and saw Draco staring at her. Their eyes locked, and she smiled bashfully and her cheeks tinged the most adorable shade of pink, before looking away. When she did, Draco felt deflated, as if it didn't last long enough. He'd never felt like that before, just by looking at someone.

He looked back at Blaise, who was smirking and had his eyebrows raised. "What do you think?" he asked.

"She's…amazing, but probably already taken." Draco sighed, though somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he hoped she wasn't.

"_So_?" Blaise frowned, as if it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"What do you mean '_so_'?"

"Look, all I'm saying is give it a go, alright?"

Exasperatedly, Draco sighed. "_Fine_."

He turned around again, only to see her get out of her seat and begin walking towards the door of The Three Broomsticks. She pulled open the door and made to leave, but not before flashing a discrete smile in Draco's direction…

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I know, BORING right?

_**But whatever, this chapter was necessary, but I hope it didn't bore y'all to death. Anyway, review my lovely little lemon drops :)**_


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Harry Potter, Hurt-Comfort, Romance