A Fearful Return

[Xavier]

The bustling of Hogsmeade didn't seem any different from any other day. Wizards and witches stopped by windows, pointing and talking amongst themselves about the local news and the best price to buy broomsticks, cauldrons and wands - amongst other things. Students of the school ran through the streets with candies and sweets in brown paper bags with animated lettering announcing the name of the store where the sugary goodies had been purchased. Everything was as it should have been.

However, to two souls wandering the streets that day, things couldn't have been more dissimilar. Just a short time ago, one had experienced an even that made him resent coming back. However he had remained strong and made his way into the crowd firmly. The one, a tall, muscular male with green hair and orange eyes hidden under his black hood, led another, a female with striking blue hair and teary eyes, by the hand. This girl, sniffling quietly, had suffered massive trauma in the local pub as a result of a rogue Lycan looking for a meal out of her pet duckling. The male spoke quietly to the female.

"Come now Carmen. I know what happened last time, but you don't have to fear anything now. Rogue isn't there, I guarantee you. Even so, she wasn't after you," he said quietly. The girl just sniffled and made a small effort to attempt to reverse her direction. The male felt her tug and shook his head. "Come on, Carmen. We're almost there. Besides, you can't avoid the Three Broomsticks forever. Here, dry your tears."

The man reached into one of his many pockets and took out a packet of tissues, putting them into the girl's empty hand as they arrived outside of the pub. The man gently squeezed Carmen's other hand and gently pushed open the wooden door to the pub, breathing deeply as the smell of various alcoholic drinks filled his nostrils. There was nothing quite like the Three Broomsticks anywhere else in the wizarding world. Another tug. The man looked behind her at Carmen struggling to keep her feet from entering the establishment.

"Carmen...please. Don't do this. It's time you got past it all," the male lightly pleaded as the girl continued to struggle.

To any passerby, it must have seemed strange for this man to be attempting to get this girl into the pub. To anyone it could have seemed suspicious. The man was awfully surprised that he hadn't been confronted yet. As the cold winter draft blew into the bar, several patrons yelled angrily at the man and the girl. The man smiled nervously and nodded politely.

"Enough is enough, Carmen. In...now." The man picked up Carmen off the ground and carried her by the waist two feet into the pub. He put her down gently on the cold stone floor and smiled down at her.

"There. That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

OOC: Just so you all know. I got permission from Carmen to God-RP for this portion. Invite only, too. Thanks!

-X

[Carmen]

Why did she ever agree to do this? When he had visited her outside the common room, and she had explained what happened (with a few tears) when he noticed the scars on her face, wrist and arms, Carmen wasn't expecting to have to go back to the place where the scars had formed in their youngest of stages. Forgoil wasn't even with them. Maybe he was a lot stronger than her. It wouldn't surprise the girl, really.

Xavier's hand was so strongly holding onto hers as he lead the two through the crowds of people that there was no hope in escaping. But there was still that time that she would dart in the other direction, in the attempt of avoiding the Three Broomsticks. Harmonious times were held within the confines of that building with Carmen. Ones when she was with friends, others when she was courting someone special. But those were all cut down in her views of the place.

Too dangerous for her.

He spoke to her, and mentioned the Lycan that had attacked her, and to which she flinched noticably (when she described the woman who took on the form of the white wolf, he pinpointed the woman with a name as soon as she finished wording her appearance). He sealed the sentence with 'Here, dry your tears' and handed her some tissues, to which she tentatively took them in the free hand, but didn't remove any from the package.

Xavier looked to be only a few years older than her, maybe twenty years old or so, but she had been told that Lycans were immortal, so there was an impossibility for her to judge how old he really was. Either way, his strength surpassed her own as she tugged away again, attempting to not let her feet pass through the door. Her hands were the only things that passed through the threshold of the nightmare she had experienced so many times.

"I can't..." she mouthed as he swooped around to face her. But he seemed to ignore that, especially with the yelling patrons. Without warning, he spun his form around, let go of her hand and grabbed her by the waist. It was then that she knew what would happen, and mentally kicked herself for not running when she had the chance. Once she had been lifted through the door, it banged closed loudly.

Carmen instantaniously shuddered, and stared straight at the bar where she had been pulled backward from her chair, then instinctively moved her eyes to the floor, where she had fallen to from Rogue's shove. Her beautiful face flashed dangerously in her memory's eye, and she cried out abruptly, letting the tears stream down her face. Both her hands moved to her chest, like she had done to protect Ozzie from Rogue, and she ran to Xavier, and pushed herself up against him in utmost fear.

It couldn't happen again...

[Xavier]

As soon as Carmen's feet hit the floor and the door slammed shut via the strong wind, Xavier watched as Carmen stared in fear at the bar, then clutched her chest as if protecting something. She cried out and threw herself against him, knocking the wind out of him as her clenched fists landed at his stomach. He managed to catch his breath and hold onto the crying girl tightly as the blackness faded from the edges of his vision. He chuckled to himself.

Not a bad hit there, Carmen.

The flame-eyed Lycan then nodded at the barkeep, who had taken a moment to see if the girl was alright. The man quickly went back to spitshining the beer mugs. Xavier made a mental note to order something that didn't require using one of them. Xavier then escorted the girl over to a bar as far away from the area where her incident had taken place, wrapping her in his arms as they slowly made their way over to a shabby but relatively clean table. As the darkness in the corner of the pub enveloped them, the Lycan removed his hood, letting his spiked hair roam free and letting his eyes see everything unhindered.

Xavier pulled out the cleanest chair at the table for the still-sobbing Carmen, who sat down heavily as he pushed her in, then sat down in the chair across from her. Soon the barkeep came up and Xavier ordered a butterbeer for Carmen and a beer straight from the bottle for himself. He also ordered a side dish of muggle french fries, which Xavier had come to like in his recent visits to Hogsmeade. As the barkeep left, Xavier reached across the table and gently stroked Carmen's cheek with his hand. The scar tissue was still visible a little, and Xavier was sure that Carmen knew that. He smiled and sat back as the barkeep returned, two drinks and a hot batch of french fries in hand. Xavier slid the butterbeer in front of Carmen and picked up his bottle and popped the top with his clenched fist.

"Well now, that wasn't so bad, was it? We're in, you're safe, and we can talk," Xavier said as he took a small sip of his drink. Then Xavier took one of the tissues out of Carmen's pack and opened it, then wiped her tears gently away with it.

[Carmen]

Oblivious. She was oblivious to everything around her. Nothing could drag her attention away as she sobbed into Xavier's chest, clutching tighter at the nothingness against her own. Why did it have to happen here of all places? Why couldn't it have been the Graveyard? She didn't know anyone there, and probably would never go there again either way. But Hogsmeade was supposed to be a happy place of socialising, not of hurting and murder.

No one had even helped her. Not one. Not until Forgoil had come along and risked his life. She had hurt him badly too, that white Lycan. It didn't matter to her that she had helped carry Carmen off to the hospital wing. She killed a dear friend to the Australian girl, and for that she would never forgive the white haired woman. Blood-thirst and hunger... he was too small to make a meal of. "A little duckling..." Carmen sobbed.

Although Xavier had pulled her aside and encased her in his arms, her hands tightened around eachother, so that her knuckles were beginning to fade white from the normal tan. He had placed her in front of a chair, which she hadn't taken any notice of, and pushed it in, forcing her to sit down. At least they were away from that place, Carmen thought as she cast a side-ward, teary-eyed glance over at the stool.

"f***ing b****..." she muttered under her breath, not caring if anyone had heard her. The poor girl was so out of it that when the waiter had come over to take any orders for drinks, Carmen didn't notice at all. But she ignored him when he put the glasses in front of them on the worn table. Staring off into a deep gash on the wood, Xavier had reached over and brushed her cheek with his gentle hands, to which she flinched violently with a deep intake of air.

He began speaking in a hushed tone, which the girl only half took in. And once again, when he leaned over and took the tissues from her clenched hand and wiped her face, she flinched, though not as abruptly this time. He caused a barrier of dry skin, which her tears broke through in a short amount of time, dripping down into the crook of her mouth, and onto the table from her chin. "I don't want to be here..." she muttered.

"I really don't want to be here," this time it was more directed. "Please, I want to go. Can we go? I want to go. I don't want to be here." Her words, though still directed, were beginning to run into one another, like a traffic jam on a free-way.

[Xavier]

Xavier drew back at Carmen's flinch, but then frowned and took one of her hands and squeezed it lightly in his own. The Lycan heard her mutter something offensive at the barstool where her incident had occured and he frowned again. Xavier didn't blame Carmen for hating Rogue or not wanting to be in the pub to begin with, but if she never came back, it'd be a part of her life that she would surely miss.

"Carmen, you have to put this behind you. Rogue was...not herself. She hasn't been in a long while."

As Carmen began to repeat that she wanted to leave the pub, Xavier shook his head firmly and lifted up Carmen's chin so that his eyes locked with hers. His heart melted at the sight. Carmen's deep, beautiful eyes looked so sad, her tears slowly making their way down her blue-framed face. Her slightly quivering lips seemed to beg Xavier to let her go. Under any other circumstances he would have probably agreed instantly. However, he felt it important that Carmen get over this fear beforehand. Xavier held her cheek again, this time holding it there gently, using his thumb to wipe away more tears, forming a barrier that diverted her tears to his hand, which came away wet as he lifted it away.

"Carmen, I don't think you should go. I know you're uncomfortable here, but I don't want you to exclude yourself from this place just because of what happened last time. You need to continue on with your life. That was a rut in the road. You can't just stop and give up now. You've got to keep moving on, no matter how bad it gets. My life has been full of ruts. From my unhappy time as a student to losing my wife and clan members, I've kept moving. You have to also..." the Lycan paused at the end to judge Carmen's reaction.

[Carmen]

"Rogue was...not herself..."

"Then what could she have been?" Carmen snapped back, then immediately recoiled. He didn't deserve her anger or sadness, of all people. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude..." the girl muttered under her breath after encasing her head in her hands to hide the tear-stained face of hers. Why was he helping her? Didn't he have better things to do than sit around and push her into The Three Broomsticks?

But in all truth, she wouldn't have chosen anyone else to do such a thing with her. Her hands fell from her face to reveal a puffy-eyed girl with red cheeks, contrasting brilliantly with her hair and irises, as Xavier tilted her chin to lock his vision with hers. Had she been in any other mood, she would have noticed that Xavier's face had melted when she looked at him. But she was oblivious to the fact.

The very movement that he did when he removed her tears was a large metaphorical act; that he was taking her problems from her to be his, instead. It touched her, and for the first time in at least a good two hours, the girl's corner of her lip twitched into a miniature smile. He spoke again, of losses and ruts, and that she couldn't leave this place. "You lost your wife... I'm sorry... my..."

"My events... are naught but miniscule..." With her chin still being held by his hand, her eyes diverted guiltily toward the floor over the table.

[Xavier]

Xavier winced suddenly as Carmen lashed out at him. His hand left her chin for a moment and he put it back down on his side of the table, even after she had apologized. So that was it, then? He had tried his best, yet she had snapped at him as a result. Xavier shook his head. Nonsense. He looked at Carmen after a few moments, who had hidden her face in her hands in a mixture of what Xavier assumed was embarrassment, fear, pain and shame. After he had looked into her eyes and wiped away her tears, he saw something. The corner of her mouth...upturned. Hope exploded in Xavier's heart. Maybe he could change Carmen around and get her to feel okay about being in the Three Broomsticks again. Then she apologized...for herself and for the loss of Sealla.

The freight train came in and collided with his heart. Xavier flinched at the mention of Sealla and he withdrew himself from Carmen. The Lycan's head dipped down and his hand gripped the beer bottle loosely. He spoke quietly, almost to nobody.

"It's all right, Carmen. It's not something you should concern yourself with. It's another time, another place."

Xavier kept his face shadowed and took a long, slow swig of his beer, then placed the bottle heavily on the table and looked up at Carmen again. This time his face seemed less of its cheerful self. Instead it had been replaced with almost a mask, devoid of all emotion.

[Carmen]

Great. Now she had gone and done it. Smooth move, sister.. Carmen kicked herself mentally for mentioning all of it. Once she had realised there was an awkward silence, the girl noticed an empty glass on the table with some ice cubes in it. The girl grabbed one, and made sure that Xavier was watching, and dropped it to the floor, and stood on it until it was just a mush of ice.

Noticing that she had his attention, Carmen forcefully grinned and said "Now that I've broken the ice..." Hopefully that would at least make him smile, and bring him back to where he was at the present time. She couldn't blame him for being so out of it, because she was jut as bad for zonking out at random moments.

Reaching over to her neglected butterbeer, she took a sip from it, and almost instantaniously felt better from the inside out. And it probably showed too.

[Xavier]

Xavier saw Carmen mentally beat herself after watching his reaction, and in turn he kicked himself for reacting the way he did. Carmen was emotionally unstable enough as it was. He didn't need to aggrevate the situation any further. Then out of the corner of his eye, Xavier saw the blue-haired student reach for the glass ice, drop a single cube onto the floor, then crush it with a satisfying "crunch."

Then came the horribly bad pun. Xavier laughed aloud, startling a few nearby patrons who could actually hear him amongst the bustle of the pub. Xavier's mask cracked instantly and his smile blossomed. "You did that on purpose!" he chuckled. Soon afterwards Carmen reached for her butterbeer and, judging by her reaction, enjoyed the drink thoroughly.

"Now, isn't that better?" he asked with a smile. "All you needed was a little help in the right direction."

Xavier took another sip of his beer, then belched accidentally and laughed as he attempted to cover his mouth.

"'scuse me," he said quietly before removing his hand from in front of his mouth and reaching for the steaming pile of french fries (chips, potato fries, whatever). Xavier eagerly munched on the salty, soft snack before smiling again. "Now then, are we feeling better?" he questioned her as he handed her a fry.

[Carmen]

Now, that was the reaction the girl was planning on. The had laughed so hard at her horrible pun that even the barman raised an eyebrow. After all, they had only seen him burst out laughing, and not what Carmen had done. She grinned as she took another sip of her drink, which was harder than she had expected and almost dribbled a bit.

Then came the belch. My, he was really dragging the attention over by the bucket-full. But the last thing Carmen would have done was blushed; she was beginning to actually have a good time again. But no matter how many good times she would have in the pub, she would always be turning around to see behind her from what had happened.

Taking the offered 'fry', Carmen smiled a little more toward Xavier in her answer. And then, greedily, reached over to the french-fries bowl and grasped a hand full, and began munching down on the yummy things. She had always had a soft spot for french fries.

[Xavier]

Xavier chuckled again as he watched Carmen have issues with her butterbeer. He smiled and made a lighthearted comment.

"It's the glass, I tell you. The bartender bewitched it before he gave it to you. It always makes you spill after the first sip," he grinned.

After Xavier belched and apologized, he realized that Carmen had begun to significantly loosen up, although he sensed that she would always feel uneasy about the previous incident. That was to be expected, he assured himself. Events like that don't often disappear from a person's memory quickly.

Moments later, Xavier watched, bewildered, as Carmen took his plate of fries and began munching greedily. The Lycan laughed and let her continue until she felt that she was full. Then it would be his turn to pig out. Xavier smiled as his imagination began coming up with awkward yet amusing pictures of this.

[Carmen]

And his comment about the bartender just had to be when she was trying to take another drink. The girl giggled during the attempt, only to fail thanks to his joke. She ended up having to put the pot down on the table to stifle her giggles, just so she wouldn't spill any. "Fibber!" She joked, trying not to choke.

More and more the girl took, chowing down on the cooked potato chips. "Can we get some sauce over here?" Carmen cried out to the barman with a mouth full of chips from over her shoulder. She never would have guessed that she would ever come into the Bar.

(Ooc: Sorry it's crap, I'm in a rush.)

[Xavier]

Xavier chuckled for the second time as Carmen nearly shot butterbeer out her nose at the same time she was giggling. Xavier's smile only widened. This was good. Carmen seemed so tense whenever he had the pleasure of being in the same vicinity with her. Xavier merely sighed to himself and shrugged his shoulders inconspicuously. Whatever. As long as she was better it was fine by him. For some reason, the Lycan didn't mind spending time with her. There were some humans that just struck a bad chord with him, but she was definitely among the few that didn't. It wasn't that he didn't like all humans. He just preferred certain people who treated every being in this world equally. Of course, thinking about how badly Carmen thought of Rogue at the current moment didn't count. She had a right. He probably would have felt the same way in a similar situation. Xavier suddenly realized he'd been staring straight into Carmen's beautiful irises for the past thirty seconds. He blushed and coughed as he glanced at the floor and reached for the ketchup in the middle of the table. Unfortunately for him he grabbed the extra hot enchanted hot sauce which was hotter than almost any human hot sauce on the market.

Continuing not to look at Carmen out of embarrassment, Xavier screwed off the top of the bottle, shook some onto his plate, then reached for the fries, grabbed a bunch, but them on his plate, dipped them in the "ketchup" and began munching away.

A few seconds later Xavier realized exactly what he had done. His eyes watered and his face turned a deep shade of red as steam literally began flying out of his ears and a whistle sound came out from somewhere. The bartender immediately came over and gave him an oversized pitcher full of beer, which Xavier drained in a matter of seconds to put out the flames in his mouth. As he panted, smoke drifting out from between his lips, Xavier hiccuped.

"Oh, no. I hope I'm not *hic!* drunk. I don't...handle...myself...well when I'm...drunk...*hic* Yup...I'm drunk alright. Pardon my behavior for a little while, Carmen. I'm just gonna slam my *hic* head down on the table 'ere and go to sl-" *SLAM!* Xavier's head fell onto the table like a ton of bricks. He quickly recoiled, grabbing his forehead in pain.

"OW! Sonofa(censored! Censored! Censored! Censored!)"

The entire pub proceeded to fall silent.

"Um...sorry?" Xavier said nervously as he laughed, still rubbing his forehead. Boy, what a trip this turned out to be...