-Beastie- James Potter

-11-

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Karmen had always had a talent for art. She never did it though. She had always been told that her drawings were too scary or unsuitable for children. Her drawings or painting always had a twisted and almost dark tone to them but she never noticed till she got older.

Little did they know that everything she drew was what she was feeling. Sometimes, still she never talked to anyone about her home life or her condition, she'd draw her emotions and what was happening to her.

She sat in the windowsill as she had the sketch book in her lap, her feet pushed against the wall across from her as she pushed her back against the wall behind her. Sun bathing like she had seen Marlenes pet cat, Oswald, do before.

It was lunch time and Karmen had already eaten so she left. She didn't like drawing around people for some reason. She had never liked people looking over her shoulder either so that could be part of it.

Little did she know, someone was looking for her.

***

Remus had been trying to find Karmen Thorne for the past few days. He didn't have any classes with her so he resorted to his last option. The Marauders Map. Yes, the map that could show you where everyone is as long as you have the password.

They normally used it to sneak out of the castle during the full moon without Flinch catching them or when they were setting up different pranks.

He needed to talk to her about his condition. Remus didn't know if he would need to bribe her not to tell anyone, even though she wasn't the person to do that, he had to make sure.

Remus wondered the castle, following to small name tag that said 'Karmen Thorne.' It wasn't moving or anything, just sitting there which made it easier. He turned to corner and saw her sitting in the windowsill with a notebook in her lap.

"Karmen!" He called, making her pop her head up to look at him. She gave him a small smile as she stopped drawing till he got to her. He kneeled by where she was sitting as she made no movements to getting up.

"Hello, Remus. How can I help you?" Karmen asked.

"You don't...you didn't...hmm... you don't know, do you?" He stumbled over his words. It wasn't because of her but because he didn't know how to ask in a way that didn't reveal anything if she didn't know.

"Hmm...you mean about your lycanthropy? Then yes, I know." She said as she turned to a different page in her book and continued drawing as she spoke to him.

"Oh no...um, you're not gonna tell anyone, are you?" Remus asked almost nervously.

"No, of course not. Everyone's got secrets and it's un of my business to exploit them." She said simply with a shrug.

"Oh ok...that's good. Thank you so much. I just have one more question. How did you know? You were already down in the common room when they brought me back."

Karmen couldn't tell him the real reason why she knew they were coming and how she knew he was a werewolf. She had suspected it for a bit when the boys took on those nicknames in third year. Mooney seemed kind of on the nose to her that she was surprised that nobody else had figured it out.

"Well, I was only about 89% sure until I decided to go for a small read down in the common room as I couldn't sleep. You guys just happened to walk in while I was there." Karmen explained as she lied behind her teeth. She had been mad about what had happened with her mother over break and wasn't fond of waking up in the middle of the night, despite how many times she had because of night terrors.

"Ok, thank you, Karmen. Thank you. I didn't want to have to bribe you with nothing but I didn't think you would be the type of person to black mail someone like that. But you never know." Her smile seemed to broaden as she listened to him ramble on before he asked, "Um, do you want to talk about anything?"

She froze for a second, thinking he figured it out before she calmed down internally and decided to asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you seemed really angry when we were in the common room and wondered if it was something else. I thought for a second that it could be from waking up in the middle of the night but I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Karmen had always known that Remus Lupin was a good person, no matter how he viewed himself.

He was the most responsible out of the Marauders, much like herself in the Reines even though Lily was a close second, making sure the boys didn't die from a prank gone wrong. And with how much Sirius talked about him, he knew that he cared very much about people, and she could assume that Sirius talked to him about her as she didn't know why he would ask any other way.

She thought about just telling him, knowing that he wouldn't judge her and try to fix her as he couldn't fix her like other tried. They both had their problems but she couldn't risk it.

After a few seconds, Karmen looked back at him and gave him a close mouth smile before saying, "No, I'm alright. Just...family things."

She moved to get up, ripping the drawing she had been doing the whole time they were talking and handed it to him. He looked at in amazement as she moved around him and started to walk down the empty hall.

"Good people are always better people to others than they believe they are themselves, Lupin. Don't forget that." Karmen said to him from down the hall, not turning her head.

He said noting in return, only looking at the picture she had drawn for him. It was his boggart but much prettier. It was the moon as a person, comforting the people who were affected by it at its fullness. Werewolves. It was beautiful. It had a wolf in the background as the moon pulled arrows from the back of the werewolf as a human. He recognized the curliness of the boys hair and the scars along his face. It was him.

Her words echoed in his head. Good people are always better people to others than they believe they are themselves.