Snapdragons

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I started this a very long time ago, and then fell out of the fandom so I abandoned it. I just dug it back up while looking for something to post here and realized I'd very much like to get back to it. This is a Harry Potter/Beauty and the Beast crossover I started writing for yabamena Back in the Before Time. Maybe I'll be able to finish it sometime now that I've since poked my head back into HP.

Once upon a time there was a handsome prince. He was proud and rich, and he wasn't a very nice person. He used people for his own gain, and he didn't know the meaning of the words guilt or remorse. It wasn't long before he came to be referred to as a monster.

And then one day, something happened that truly turned him into one. A powerful spell, perhaps. No one knew for certain because one day, the prince simply disappeared within the walls of his castle, hiding from all who once knew him.

The years passed and the prince's story became legend, a tale told to curb the too-proud streaks of the nobility. As time passed, few believed or cared about it any longer. To them, it was merely a myth.

So it was for the noble family of the Malfoys. The Lord and Lady Malfoy welcomed a baby boy one night late in the fall. He was pale like both parents, white blond hair and blue eyes that would later settle to a steely grey. He grew slender and proud, proud as the peacock that was on the family crest.

He would sit at his mother's knee while she deftly knit him blankets, sweaters, and the like, her knitting needles clacking as she spun wool and tales at the same time. When he was still a young boy, the tales fascinated him. As he grew older, he grew restless, and his mother's childish stories were no longer enough.

He took to stealing about the grounds, sneaking out when he should have been in bed. He slipped into the kitchen for forbidden sweets. He crept into the his father's office to read the books his father kept hidden away. It was there he found his true comfort: knowledge and secrets. He read of devious kings, evil magicians, family secrets, anything and everything he could divulge. And night after night he crept back to learn more.

This would keep him entertained while his father went off on business trips, returning with gifts for them both. For the lady Narcissa, he'd bring jewels, bolts of cloth, and flowers. For his son, Lord Lucius would bring books on maths, history, business. Only once did he deviate from that.

Draco still wasn't entirely certain why he begged his father to bring him something different, just once. Perhaps it was the fantastic tales he'd read, something that lent him what other men might consider a deplorable romantic streak. He wanted flowers, but not any would do. He wanted one that was his own namesake. Snapdragons, in pure white. He didn't expect his father to acquiesce, but only a few weeks later, upon his return, Lucius did indeed bring Draco the flower he desired, along with what he considered more appropriate gifts for a young man.

Draco kept the flowers, curious at how they never seemed to fade or wilt, and it made him ever more curious. He sought to learn what made them special, which mean more sneaking, more hiding his nose in books that no one knew he was reading.

One night, while he was hidden away in an alcove, reading an impressive tome, when his father entered, a letter in his hand, and a furtive look on his face. Lord Lucius read the letter, cracking open its seal and settling down at his desk. The expression on his face went somber, almost grey, and he opened a drawer in his grand oak desk, locking the letter inside of it. He hid away the key in another drawer, and left his office, unaware that he had a spectator.

Draco waited, his breath held for fear of being overheard. Once he was certain his father was gone, he crept from his hidden alcove, and went right for the key to the drawer. The letter, he was certain, was of some importance, but it made little sense to him. Cryptic words, sprawled in a hand he didn't recognize, decorated the thick heavy parchment. Your time is up, the words said. One of you must come, by week's end, as agreed.

Draco couldn't make sense of it, and he knew he couldn't ask his father without revealing he had been snooping. He replaced the letter, locked the drawer and replaced the key before sneaking back to his room. He didn't know why, but he didn't sleep well that night, laying awake for hours watching as one petal from one of his long-lived snapdragons fell. It was the first time that had happened.

Um yeah so if Draco's Beauty in this scenario, Blaise is the Beast. I remember some vague intentions about this and I really need to get back to it. Especiallys ince Blaise/Draco is one of my fave pairings and Beauty and the Beast is one of my fave fairy tales.