Full Moon Scars

Chapter 3 - Padfoot's Approval

Carmen's prediction came true within minutes - all six of them had a break period right now, and the scolding started the moment they set foot outside. Or rather, it started the moment the Marauders took off for a tree by the lake, and Lily followed behind, hissing like a cat who'd gotten it's tail stepped on. Carmen was following a bit off to the side, partly because she wasn't quite sure if she was invited, and partly because she hadn't been planning on coming into the line of fire between the boys and the redhead following them.

"You'll never grow up, will you?" Lily started, as Carmen settled down on a patch of grass in the sunlight; it wouldn't be long before it got cold, especially with the storm clouds hovering overhead, blocking most of their warmth.

"Why can't you just leave him alone? It's not like he goes out of his way to irritate you, unlike how you harass him! And you -" Lily rounded on Remus, eyes blazing; the brown-haired boy looked as if he wished he could melt into the ground. "Can you not at least try to get them to use common sense? I know they're arrogant, childish imbeciles, but you should at least know better! You're so much smarter than them, Remus, why waste it?"

A crowd of students had gathered around to watch the entertainment, clustered in a rough circle around them. Several younger Gryffindor girls were huddled beside Carmen, as if they wanted to see what was going on, but like sitting beside a girl from Lily's year meant they were safe from being scolded themselves.

Lily, meanwhile, had continued to rant; James looked as if he was tuning her out as he played with some tiny golden ball; Remus continued to look highly embarrassed; Sirius was shooting glances at random girls in the crowd, earning numerous giggles; and Peter was hiding behind the tree.

"Ugh! Quit playing with that stupid thing while I'm talking to you, James Potter, I'm serious!" Lily's hand flashed forward and hit the snitch with a loud smack; James had been reaching up to catch it again just as she took a swipe at it. Eyes gone wide, he stared at her. Evidently, it was common for Lily Evans to shout at them. From the looks on the other Gryffindors' faces, it wasn't normal for her to hit something like that over such a simple thing.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered!" James' face lit up. "Lily, you never answered me from that note - will you go to the first Hogsmeade weekend with me?" There was a massive outbreak of giggling and eye-rolling as Lily's face turned an even angrier shade of red.

"Er - Lily, that Slytherin boy didn't look injured when we left, so it's not like he's in the hospital wing or something," Carmen said carefully, standing up again with her book bag in hand. Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say. Lily rounded on her so fast the younger girls behind her let out startled squeaks and were gone to hide behind someone else faster than you could say oops.

"Oh, don't you even get started up defending them! You haven't even been here a week, you don't know the half of it, so just stay out and mind your own business!"

The giggling crowd had quieted to stare at them unblinkingly. Lily shot a final glare over her shoulder at the boys, then strode off back in the direction of the castle. The crowd made a wide path for her as she went, without so much as a word from her, then resumed it's staring at Carmen. What did they expect, for her to burst into tears just because someone shrieked at her? It wasn't like it was the first time she'd been yelled at.

"Well? Show's over, goodbye, run along now," She made little shooing motions with her hands, glaring at the stragglers, and their audience was gone to pester someone else in moments.

"You're welcome," Carmen grumbled, sitting back down across from the boys with a muffled thump.

"Huh?" Sirius asked, staring.

"I said you're welcome," She glared. "But I guess I did that for myself anyway, I didn't really want to listen to her screech now when I'll probably have to listen to it tonight in the dorms anyway."

"Lily can definitely hold a grudge," James grinned.

"Idiot." She muttered. "Was that really the time to ask her out?"

"To James, anytime is a good time to ask Evans out," Sirius said, sniggering.

"She was already angry, so I'd rather make her angrier than have her less angry two different times." James said. It was quiet for a moment as we took that in.

"James, that is horrible logic," Remus stated, and he looked like he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by a loud peal of laughter from the ground in front of them. Carmen had flopped over onto her back and was laughing shamelessly at the offended look on James' face.

Tiny droplets started sprinkling down on them from the clouds above, ignored by the students still remaining outside. Silence reigned again for a moment; Carmen was still shaking on the ground, but she had gone quiet for the most part.

"Hey, Moony, dare you to jump into the lake!" Sirius exclaimed with a grin.

"No, Padfoot."

"I'll give you that box of Chocolate Frogs I have if you do it! It's not even that cold!"

"I'll do it," Sirius' eyes lit up as he turned to look at the new girl.

"You will?"

"I will, but you have to give me the Chocolate Frogs." She grinned as he pouted.

"Fine," He said.

Carmen grinned, too, then stood up and murmured something as she pointed her wand at her book bag.

"What did you do?" Remus asked, ever the curious one.

"Charmed it so that Sirius can't touch it or charm it himself," She grinned with a triumphant look.

"What?" The dark-haired boy exclaimed. "But that's the entire reason I wanted someone to jump in!"

"I assumed that, but I don't feel like having you pawing through my stuff - and don't forget those Chocolate Frogs you promised."

"No way, you are so not getting the frogs now."

"You said I had to jump in, you didn't say I had to let you go through my personal stuff. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a trip into the Black Lake scheduled." She said, pulling her shoes off, then started to pull her robes up over her head. There was a splutter behind her.

"What are you doing now?" A red-eared Remus Lupin had asked.

"I'm not swimming in this - oh, relax, I do have clothes on it beneath it, you know," She stuck her tongue out at the four boys - the dark-haired two were looking very amused, their friends, on the other hand, looked very red-faced.

Now reduced to the tank top and shorts she had on under her robes - technically, 'lounge' clothes she wore around other girls, but hey, still clothes - she put the same protection on the rest of her things. She had to walk a short distance around the edge to find a part that cropped out into deeper water, considering she didn't feel like banging her head on something in the shallows.

"Chickening out?" Sirius called.

Carmen peered into the gray water a moment.

"Never!"

And then, she jumped, yelling the entire way to the water. The next thing she knew was a blur of bubbles racing up to the surface all around her and a chilly shock against her bare legs and arms. It was still pretty warm in the air, with a chilly breeze every now and then, but she hadn't expected the water to be that cold!

"That's freaking cold!" Her head broke the surface directly across from the Marauders, who were laughing heartily after her exclamation, even Remus.

"You said it wasn't cold!" She accused, glaring at Sirius as she floated in the water.

"I -" He paused to laugh again. "Said it wasn't that cold."

"Help me out of the water, at least?" She gave a pleading look. He stared at her for a moment before shrugging and crawling forward to offer his hand to her.

"Thanks, Sirius," She said, smiling sweetly. Reaching up, she clasped his hand tightly in hers, then gave a sharp tug just as Sirius started to pull her out.

"Wha -" Splash.

When she came up this time, it was to find the other three laughing all-out again, and the now-drenched Sirius glaring at her as he coughed up water.

"I guess I should have seen that one coming," He muttered after a moment, still glaring halfheartedly.

"You definitely should have," James confirmed.

"Especially after all the times you've done that yourself," Remus added.

"Truce?" Sirius offered his hand out once more.

Carmen eyed it warily, then shook it with a grin. They helped each other out, then they each dried their clothes with a spell. The rain droplets were increasing by the time she had her robes and shoes pulled back on.

"I'm heading in, I have a few things I need to take care of. See you," She grinned, grabbed her bag, then sprinted off in the direction of the castle with a final little wave.

"She's strange," Peter said, staring after her.

"Well, she may be strange, but she's well on her way to get my stamp of approval to be a Marauder's girlfriend," Sirius grinned.

"But you're dating Marlene aren't you? And James is in love with Lily," Peter said, confusion evident on his face.

"Well, somehow I think she's too gutsy for your taste, Peter," Sirius grinned as Peter flushed, staring at a spot on the ground.

"So maybe she can liven up our studious little prefect, Moony," James grinned.

"Yeah, and you can't even use the standard, 'She deserves someone better, I can't date her, I'm a were-" Sirius started.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Quit being paranoid," Sirius groaned. Remus merely glared, then stood up with a resigned sigh.

"C'mon, you gits, or we'll be as drenched as Padfoot was by the time we get inside," He muttered.

The rain had decided to come down full force now, lashing at them in sheets as they dashed for the safety of the school. All the other students had deserted the grounds already - it seemed Carmen had left just in the nick of time.

Carmen, meanwhile, hadn't been lying when she said she had things to tend to. She was currently sitting cross-legged on her bed, re-reading the letter she'd received the night the Marauders had barged into the sixth year girls' dormitory. It was from her father, and she hadn't answered yet. With a sigh, she settled her head against the cold glass of the window to re-read it again.

Carmen,

How is school going? Will you come home for Christmas break? I know it'll be awkward, but your mother is very sorry for what she said, and I'm sure you feel the same.

She didn't even try to contain a snort as she read this. Carmen and her mother had never gotten along; their personalities clashed tremendously, and Carmen was never good enough to gain her mother's approval. Her mother was ill-tempered and was the bane of 'fun'. She expected her daughter to be proper and ladylike, not go gallivanting around without a care in the world. The last blow-up they'd had was just before Carmen left for Hogwarts. The truth was, her old school wouldn't have her back once they found out she'd been bitten.

Her mother had been extremely nasty about the fact that they were forced to move because of Carmen - the way she viewed it, if Carmen hadn't been out in the forest when she wasn't supposed to be, she wouldn't have been bitten. Her daughter had a very different opinion, as the entire reason she'd gone outside in the first place was to get away from her mother and have peace and quiet. Her mother acted like she'd wanted to be bitten by a werewolf and almost have her face clawed off! Add to that another family secret, one that her mother had been bitter about all of Carmen's life, and there had hardly been one friendly conversation between them.

According to Syllindra Espinosa, Carmen couldn't do a thing properly. She back-talked, she couldn't keep her mouth shut, she didn't want to marry like her mother wanted her to, she set a horrible example for her younger sister, and countless other improper things - and then she went and got herself bitten by a werewolf! She couldn't even avoid a brainless magical creature properly!

That's what she'd told Carmen the night before she came to Hogwarts, anyway. She'd tried to disinherit her, too, and she probably would have if it hadn't been for her husband. It took all of Carmen's willpower not to crunch the paper up into her fist, but she kept reading.

She loves you very much, she just worries, and she's had a hard life. Don't blame her for how it shows through, Carmen. Don't forget to write, your sister misses you. She hopes you'll come over for break.

Love you,

Dad

The expected guilt-trip at the end of the short note. was the only part of it Carmen believed, that and the 'love you'. Her little sister probably did miss her a lot, and she knew her father loved her, even if she sometimes couldn't stand to be around him when he'd try to make excuses for her mother.

With yet another sigh, she stuffed the tiny letter back into her bag. She'd resigned herself not to answer, because she didn't really want to explain to her father how she wasn't planning on coming back till the summer, when she had to.

The real reason she'd come up here, before she got distracted by the letter, was to treat the wounds on her face. The woman from the hospital wing had given her a potion with instructions on what to do each day. It hadn't been very long at all since she'd gotten bitten that she came to Hogwarts - she came as soon as she felt well enough to come, but she was sure it was still obvious the scars on her face were fresh. Carmen knew they wouldn't go away, that had already been explained to her, but this stuff she had to to dab on with a cloth was at least supposed to make the redness go away while they were still fresh. Maybe then they wouldn't stand out like they did - or at least not as much.

She hadn't ever faced a full moon before as a werewolf. She knew she'd have to in a few weeks, but she wasn't keeping track, and she wasn't going to count down the days to the full moon. There would be plenty of reminders - and really, it wasn't easy to forget, with her face the way it was every time she looked in a mirror. But the rest of the month, she was determined to ignore it. She would not hold back because she was a werewolf. She refused to.

If you noticed the new image this story has, that is a very accurate picture of what Carmen looks like, eye color, slightly dark eye makeup, everything. The only differences are her hair is a bit longer, and that picture doesn't have her scars. Also, thanks to The Amendable Snow Freak, ellinise, and lightbabe for reviewing! Plus, thanks to anyone who's reading without commenting. :) Reviews are loved, as always, and the next chapter is already under way.