The toll of the clock tower bell drew a curse from Bucky and he picked up his pace from a walk to a sprint. He had plans to meet Steve, Derek, and Tony at the library and it was clear heâd be late. He dodged other students, raced up the staircase and past Professor Crowley near the entrance of the library before he spotted the trio at a table near the back. The soldier slowed to a walk to catch his breath as he wove around the other obstacles until a book suddenly dropped from above to land at his feet.
A glance around showed no other students nor staff so h he picked it up to set it on a table yet the moment his fingers brushed the cover, the environment around him shifted; a sensation that twisted his gut uncomfortably.
Once the sensation settled, he realized rather quickly that he wasnât at Hogwarts anymore. In front of him was a quaint village with a small amount of people wandering around. He turned his head to look back and was greeted with the sight of a lush green field. And heâŠ. was in a blue dress. With an apron. âWha-â
âBonjour!â Before the Hufflepuff could even comprehend the greeting, four other townspeople joined in with the same greeting in a melodic tone. Pale eyes narrowed at the sound of music that filled the air but a glance around didnât reveal the source of it.
A man with a tray of bread crossed in front of him while he looked at the younger man expectantly. Bucky stared at him for a long moment before it became clear what the other was waiting for and he shook his head in a negative.
ââŠ.Iâm not singing.â
âGood morning, Belle!â came the chirped reply.
âAnd where are you off to today?â
âI⊠I donât even know where I am-â
âThatâs nice. MARIE! THE BAGUETTES! HURRY UP!â The baker turned away to shout at his wife through the window of a nearby building and Bucky silently continued on his way past a crowd gathered near his side of the street.
âLook there she goes that girl is strange, no question. Dazed and distracted canât you tell?â
It took every ounce of willpower not to turn back toward the singing townspeople to argue that one, heâs not this Belle girl and two he seemed dazed and distracted because he had just fallen into a goddamn fairy tale and everyone here was the opposite of helpful. Instead the brunet just took a deep breath and kept walking away from the cluster. He had to find some way out of this mess.
âNever part of any crowd-â
âStop.â Bucky muttered under his breath.
â'Cause her headâs up on some cloud.â
âJust stop.â
âNo denying sheâs a funny girl that Belle!â
âBucky. Itâs Bucky.â Fingers dragged through his hair only to hit a bow in the back and he stopped walking as he pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the impending headache he could feel approaching.
This wasnât a fairy tale. This was hell.
Derek was sitting at a table in the library with Steve and Tony trying to ignore how disgustingly affectionate they were with each other. He was tracking Buckyâs heartbeat to pass the time until he arrived to the library. He was excited to see Bucky and get some studying done. He was in the middle of mentally lining up the classes he needed to study for when Buckyâs heartbeat suddenly went missing. Derek sat up fully and between one blink and the next he was in a different place by himself entirely. The scents were all new and it seemed to be a part of the castle he had never been in. Derek stood up to find he was not as human as he felt. He looked down at his hands and froze.
They were very animalistic.
In fact his entire body was covered in fur and he could feel the fangs pushing at his bottom lip. He raised his hands and felt horns on his head and became even more confused. What sort of magic was this?
