For my original Author's note, refer to La Default Chapter.

A HUGE thanks to ETNicholls717, EvanescoDarkness, TrinityDD, Mac1 & Elmire for reviewing in favour of Chapter Four and to all my other reviewers for their unstinting kindness and advice!

Chapter Five: Dare to Dream...

How he had gotten there he wasn't sure. He had no memory of this house, he had never been there before, and yet something about it was so...warm, welcoming and familiar. He continued his way down the dark hallway, to a pair of double doors at the very end, light seeping through the cracks under the doors. He gripped hold of the golden doorhandles and pushed them open, the white light almost blinding. He held up his arms to shield his eyes, when suddenly, a scene came into view.

A young woman in a little white cotton dress was down on her knees, working in the garden. In the waning light of the setting sun, he could not see her distinctly, only her dark silhouette, but it was a beautiful sight to say the least. Picking a large white lily from the flowerbed and threading it into her hair, she stood up and stretched her back; radiant shots of scarlet and gold from the setting sun showing off the shape God had given her.

Remus felt the wind knocked out of him as she headed towards him, dusting the dirt from her hands, her soft sultry voice humming a strange, foreign song. When she caught sight of him, leaning against the doorframe, she broke into a run, threw her arms about his neck and kissed him fiercely.

"Oh Remus," she sighed, laying her head on his chest, "You've come home to me."

"Yes," he whispered, kissing her forehead "I'm home now."


"Remus? Remus?"

The first thing Remus noticed was that he was very cold, and very wet. The second thing he noticed, was that the ground beneath him was very hard, that his head was aching, and that somebody was smacking him, albeit gently, across the face. Unwillingly he creaked open his eyes and saw a blurry James bent over him, slapping him back into consciousness.

"Oh it's you." He groaned, sounding both disappointed and disgusted.

"Well that's gratitude for you," James huffed, "Maybe I'll just leave you here then."

"Where?" Slowly Remus sat up and took in the view around him. He still lay in the field on the edge of the forest where he had fallen, although it looked a lot less menacing in the daylight. A few sheep grazed in a paddock nearby, separated only by a flimsy decrepit old wooden fence. That must have been where she had found it...

"Um...well, I suppose you'd like to know what I'm doing here?" Remus said, rather bashfully, but James shook his head.

"No need," he said dryly, "I think I can guess." Remus felt his face burn. "But I would however like to know what in the hell happened to your face!"

The damage from the night before was rather extensive. A large gash stretched across Remus' face, from his left ear down to his left cheek. His eye was black and blue and a series of splinters were embedded in his right eyebrow and just under his bottom lip. The sections of his face that weren't bruised were either heavily scratched or covered in mud and filth. He had never looked so bad after a full moon.

"Well," James demanded impatiently, "Are you going to tell me or do I hire a private detective?"

Remus sighed and rubbed his temples, caked with dry blood. It had been a long night. A very long night...


The moment she laid eyes on him he knew he was in trouble. Her body went rigid with fright and her eyes became wide. Her breath caught in her throat, and she mouthed like a fish out of water.

Slowly, she began to stand up, being careful not to make any sudden movements, holding out her hands in defence, just as the Death Eaters had done. Remus got to his feet and wagged his tail, hoping to display some show of innocence or friendliness, but Carmen only became more agitated, and slowly began to back away, never breaking eye contact.

"Get away," she breathed, "Stay away from me."

Suddenly she felt herself slam into something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a rotting, decrepit old wooden fence, and reaching behind her, she grabbed it tight.

Suddenly, the werewolf began to bolt straight for her and, without a second hesitation; Carmen ripped off a large chunk of the rotted wood, and swung it at him.

Remus stepped back just in time, while Carmen continued to swing the steak about her like a baseball bat, calling out "Aiuto! Aiuto!"

Finally, one vicious blow connected with the werewolf's head, sending him skidding across the grass, howling with pain and fright.

Carmen remained immobile, eyes wide, watching the creature writhe about in pain on the grass. Below her fright she felt a deep stab of shame and for an instant, contemplated rushing to the poor creature's aid. But it was a werewolf and, it was a ferocious, violent animal, likely to maul or to kill. So, letting the steak fall to the ground, Carmen ran hell for leather into the deep, dark forest leaving a beaten, bleeding, dejected and whimpering werewolf in her wake.


"Why is it," Remus wondered out loud, as he and James staggered home over the grassy fields of Hogsmeade, "That every time Carmen and I meet, I end up bleeding?"

"That I can't tell you," James laughed, "But if you have the nerve to tell me that you don't like Carmen at least a little, then I'll make you bleed!"

Remus came to a halt. "Oh alright! So, maybe I do! But what difference does it make," he sighed, "I mean women like that...I mean they don't even like regular men, let alone...men like me." Remus looked down at his feet miserably, and after a moment linked his arm back around James' neck and began walking again.

"Moony, don't be so hard on yourself!"

"No." he said decidedly, "You'd have to be something pretty special to get Carmen to look your way."


Heaven knows how long Remus stood outside Carmen's bedroom door, pacing back and forth and chewing on his nail. All he knew was that his legs were aching, the soles of his shoes were wearing through and that he desperately, desperately wanted to speak to her. He was just...too nervous to speak.

He ran his hands through his hair. Did James go through this when he first met Lily? Did he turn himself inside out and run himself ragged trying to think of something clever to say? But then again, James was a handsome, popular and intelligent Quidditch player when he met Lily, not a lonely, pale, prematurely aged werewolf.

What kind of woman could fall in love with a werewolf anyway? Not a woman like Carmen, of that he was sure. Dozens of men equally as pathetic as he must have fought tooth and nail for her attentions. She probably had a hundred lined up outside her door every night.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't be her friend. He would rather be her friend than not know her at all...

And before he had time to think on it, Remus knocked on the door. There was quite a long silence before a hoarse voice said: "Come in."

Remus opened the door and saw her sitting on the edge of her bed hugging her knees, in a baggy pair of pale blue pants and a large white jumper. Just as lovely as he remembered.

Although this time around, Carmen was looking rather dishevelled, almost wild. Her hair hadn't been brushed and was falling out of the plait she had restrained it in, wisps coming down all about her, and there were circles about her eyes, which were rather red. The damage of the night before was still rather evident, though a lot less gruesome than they had been.

Unsure if his presence was desired, Remus slowly made his way into the room. Finally Carmen turned to look up at him and for the first time he noticed certain sadness and confusion lingering in her eyes. It was the sadness and confusion that betrayed the inner conflict of people who were not at peace with themselves.

"Hello Remus," she smiled warily. "Please sit down."

Remus awkwardly lowered himself into an old leather armchair and perched on its edge, watching Carmen intently, waiting for her to speak and break the uncomfortable silence. She however didn't seem to notice. She was staring out of the window, her eyes dreamy and fixed upon absolutely nothing.

"Madonna mia!" she gasped suddenly, "What happened to you?" Remus looked at her curiously. She gestured to his face.

"Oh! Oh that-that's nothing I...fell." He ended pathetically. Carmen cocked an eyebrow

"You fell?" she asked sceptically

"Uh huh." Feeling they were straying into dangerous waters, Remus decided to change the subject. "I uh...I guess you're wondering why I'm here huh?"

"The notion had crossed my mind." She smiled.

"I just...well I just wanted to make sure you were alright. After...you know, last night and everything." Carmen's smile vanished as quickly as it had come and she sighed, leaning her head against the bedpost.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he suggested timidly.

"No." she told him. And within minutes she was unloading everything about the night before.

He sat forward in his chair and listened attentively to every word she said about the night before, although he knew it already. When she began to speak of the 'werewolf' and how afraid she had been he felt his heart clench with pain. She was afraid, afraid of him.

"Well," Remus said once she had finished, "At least it wasn't boring." Once he said this though he wished he could take it back.

Carmen on the other hand laughed softly and grabbed hold of his hand and looked back out of the window. Remus looked down at her fingers wrapped about his hand and felt himself go red and felt himself sweat. Carmen, who seemed oblivious to this, continued staring out the window. When he looked closer, he noticed she had tears in her eyes.

"Please Carmen, don't cry," he said, gripping her hand tight, softly rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. Remus gave her a gentle smile, rubbing her back in a comforting way, and held out his handkerchief.

"Here," he said, "Your nose is running." Carmen ignored the handkerchief and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Elegant."

"Oh leave me alone." Carmen muttered.

Remus chuckled and lifted her chin, gently wiping away the tears from her cheeks. They stared into each other's eyes while he did this and for a moment, Carmen felt an electricity course through her veins. He had such nice eyes...

Startled by her own tenderness, he broke eye contact and looked down at her feet. Remus cleared his throat awkwardly and finished dry her face.

"Now blow your nose like a good little girl." He grinned, and to his great surprise, she did.

"Look," he began, tucking the handkerchief back into his pocket, "I know what you're thinking Carmen Pescetelli and nothing could be farther from the truth. You haven't failed, you haven't ruined anything. I know how much avenging your dear father means to you and-"

Carmen laughed bitterly, "Oh yes, my "dear" father! How he cared for me! How much we loved one another!"

It was the first time Remus had heard her talk about her father and he was surprised to hear her talk of him so savagely. After all hadn't her love for her father drawn her here?

"What do you mean?" he asked her softly.

She hesitated for a moment, "My father never-he...he didn't, he-wasn't..." she shook her head and sighed, looking down at her hands, another tear trickling down her cheek, "Forget it." She mumbled. Remus studied her curiously.

Suddenly she snapped her head back up and tried to smile. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm awful."

"No!" Remus said quickly and a little too eagerly, "No I don't think you could be awful if you tried."

Carmen looked at him in shock. Had he really said that?

"That's the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." She smiled widely, and Remus saw once again the girl that had come to dinner the night before.

Feeling as though he had said too much already, he jumped up from his chair, "Yes well I...ahem, I think I'll let you get some rest."

"Alright. Ciao then, Remus. Don't stay away too long." Remus made a great rush for the door, eager to hide the delighted blush that was creeping across his face.

"I won't. I promise."

Just as he had his hand on the doorknob, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He turned about and saw a vase of tall white flowers standing on the dresser next to her window. He felt he had seen them before.

"Carmen," he asked slowly, "W-what are they?" he gestured to the vase.

"Oh, those are Oriental lilies. They're my favourites." Something like the ghost of a smile passed across her face, a childlike innocence blossoming in her eyes.

Tearing his gaze away from the flowers, Remus turned the handle and opened the door.

"Bah!" he cried, leaping back from the door in fright as he came face to face with James, Sirius and Peter all of whom appeared to have been eavesdropping.

Carmen looked curiously out the door and the three men jumped up like soldiers jumping to attention. Remus looked furious.

"Sorry, to bother you Carmen," Sirius said, "But we need to steal Remus away from you. Business...things." Carmen raised an eyebrow.

"Alright," she said slowly. "Remus I guess I'll see you later." Sirius gave her a dashing smile and, grabbing Remus by the shoulder, yanked him most ungraciously out the door.

"What on earth are you playing at?" Remus hissed angrily once they were well out of earshot.

"Relax Moony," Sirius smiled, "We're going to assist you."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Remus demanded, feeling his insides swell up with dread. He was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Well," James said briskly, "Now that we have identified your Lady Love, in true Mauderer fashion, we're going to help you sweep said Lady off her feet."

Oh God.


Well there you have it folks! Chapter Five! Don't forget to go review crazy or I shall never write another chapter again! (Puts hand to forehead and collapses dramatically on the couch! )