A/N: I recommend a read of the short stories in Beedle and the Bard, if you have not already. They can be easily downloaded after a quick google search. I found them quite enjoyable and the 'notes' from Dumbledore are amusing. Enjoy!

Severus sighed once he was left to his own devices yet again. His sandwich was starting to grow on him and he took the remainder to finish off on his way to Firewood.

Today would be the day to start the wolfsbane brew, If he had such ingredients. They were so expensive...nevermind the silver cauldron. He could probably afford them now, if not soon, and then he'd just have to acquire transport to London.

The knight bus was looking more appealing for the simple fact of not having to convince his mother, or entertain a family of muggles, but by the gods if it wasn't worse than any car ride he'd ever endured.

Six more months and he would no longer have to worry about the trace.

Despite currently being unequipped for the traditional wolfsbane, Severus was excited to start the process for his experiment. His potion would probably do better in a silver cauldron, but he made the recipe with the assumption most werewolves couldn't get their hands on one. The silver flakes would suffice...in theory. If it looked at all unstable or deadly, he simply wouldn't send it to Lupin and he'd start over from the beginning for the following month. And he'd get his hands on a silver cauldron, he'd wanted one anyway.

And write Damocles Belby.

He should probably write Belby no matter the outcome, knowing his life's work and all...Severus thought about just sending in the original recipe himself, but he simply couldn't do that to his fellow Potioneer.

Once in Firewood, the sandwich just a fond memory and his hunger sated for the moment, he started the base for the modified wolfsbane. Lily never showed up, not that he was expecting her to, but he had hoped she'd make it out there. She was likely grounded...and it was entirely his fault.

The evening eventually rolled around and he put the beginnings of the potion under a stasis charm. He was just in time for supper and suffered through his father's attempts at small talk and his mother's prodding.

Upon retiring to his room, he found another letter from Derrick Frost to which he wrote a reply. None from Leland Avery...yet. He'd probably have to remind him to check the muggle post if he inquires after a letter from Bauers.

Severus then put together a draft, of something that hopefully sounded believable, for Damocles Belby.

He arrived at the Schultz residence after work on Friday. He wanted to check on Megan, as well as make sure the rest of them were prepared, mentally or otherwise, for the full moon in two days.

"Severus, how wonderful to see you!" Lenore greeted him at the door.

She lured him into the living room with biscuits and tea. He did not resist.

"Megan's been looking worse as the week goes on."

"I'm afraid that's common, it's part of the cycle." He explained.

"My poor baby…" She said sadly.

"I have written to a Potioneer who has been working on relief for werewolves. It's not a cure, not yet anyway, but the version he created allows a werewolf to keep their human mind during the change." The letter hasn't been sent yet...but no need to dwell on the details.

She blinked. "Oh, that's wonderful!...But I thought Lily said there wasn't anything for Megan's condition?"

"Lily doesn't know everything. To be fair the potion isn't exactly common knowledge yet."

"Is-...is it safe?"

Severus nodded. "Yes. I will be prepared to make it next month and thereafter until another solution is available."

Just then, someone began descending the stairs. "Muma? Who's here?" Asked a groggy sounding Megan.

"It's Severus, honey, we were just having some tea."

"Sev'rus!" The little girl exclaimed, she stumbled the rest of the way downstairs and hobbled over to him. She plopped next to him and leaned into his side.

"Hello, Megan."

"Hi, Severus."

"You look a bit ill."

She sighed. "Yeah, I've been feeling pretty wolfy."

"Wolfy?" He asked, looking at Lenore who just shrugged.

"Well, it feels different than normal sick, and now I know it's just the wolf...so I'm feeling wolfy."

"Fair enough."

"Why'd you take so long to come over?"

He frowned. "I've been busy…"

"Busy...not swimming?"

He nodded. "Among other things."

She hummed doubtfully. "Well, now that you're finally here, we can talk."

"About?"

"The stories of course. Babbity Rabbity is probably my favorite. She tricked the charlitain and the foolish king!" Megan said as she sat up straighter. "But I also really like The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. It reminds me of you."

"Oh?"

"We are muggles, but you made me potions...Did you have a magic pot that followed you around until you helped me?"

He laughed once but had to stop for it made him nauseous. "Those stories don't exactly follow the rules of magic."

"How should I know!" She huffed.

"I told you, they are wizard's fairy tales. Is Cinderella real?"

The little girl pouted. "No...I guess not..."

"A cauldron doesn't follow a wizard around unless he transfigured it into a cat. Even then it wouldn't pester him, though it might wander off…which would be terribly inconvenient."

"I think the wizard would have liked the pot to wander off. At least at first."

"Indeed, he would have. But then he wouldn't have learned to care about other people. The point of a fairytale is to teach lessons without making them overly complicated...What lesson does Cinderella learn?"

Megan's face scrunched in disgust. "That she doesn't have to serve her awful step-sisters and her step-mother."

"True, but in that she also learns that it's okay to ask for help. She was in a terrible situation she had no control over and couldn't fix it herself. She asked for help and received it, then was able to live a better life."

Her eyes widened. "That's right! I hadn't realized..."

"You like muggle fairy tales?" Lenore asked.

"I like to read."

"You are familiar with the works of the brothers Grimm, then?"

Severus nodded. "Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. They were wizards, actually. It was very unusual that their muggle parents had two magical children. It's almost unheard of...however they were not very popular in their time within magic nor muggle communities. Their collection of stories became popular later, though you will only find them in a muggle library."

This caused the woman's eyebrows to shoot up. "How very interesting."

"What does the foolish king in Babbity Rabbity learn?" Megan interrupted excitedly.

Severus frowned in thought. "Well, he realized that his fear of magic was not necessarily ill placed, but learned how to respect something he could never have or control. He could then nurture his strengths instead of a false promise and perhaps be less foolish as a king."

"I didn't much like the Hairy Wizard."

"Ah yes, The Warlock's Hairy Heart. Not the most pleasant of tales."

"...What did he learn?" She asked cautiously.

"That perhaps he shouldn't have resorted to magic, dark or no, to solve his problems, but he learned it too late."

"And the fountain witches and the knight?"

"Teamwork. They already had the potential for what they wanted, but going on their little adventure together and helping each other instead of being selfish granted them all what they truly desired, despite the fountain not actually being magic."

"What about the Three Brothers?"

"The eldest was a fool, the middle one hopelessly heartbroken, and the youngest was rather clever...they say that that story is actually about the Peverell brothers."

She gasped. "The brothers were real?"

"The story with death is fiction, but the Peverell brothers were real wizards. They lived a long time ago and it is believed they created the hallows."

"Wow! They're real too?"

"They are. The headmaster at my school, Albus Dumbledore, currently has possession of the elder wand. A powerful wizard in his own right, if a bit mad."

"Did he kill the oldest brother?" She whispered.

"No. He may be old, but not that old. I believe he won it from Grindlewald, a very powerful, very bad wizard who started a war before any of us were born. He's locked up in prison now, since Dumbledore defeated him."

"Mr. Dumbledore sounds like a fairytale."

"He probably will be one day…" Severus mused aloud.

"What about the stone and cloak?"

"The cloak is a Potter family heirloom, and I believe the stone is lost among the ruins that once belonged to the Gaunt family."

"Potter...like the boy who interrupted our ice cream in London?" Lenore inquired.

"One and the same. If memory serves, the Potter's descend from the Peverell's, as do the Gaunts. I have been told the Prince family has a few Peverell roots as well, though that could just be some pureblood pride and not actual lineage."

"Are there more wizard fairy tales?" Megan asked eagerly.

"Sort of...most are rather hard to come by."

"Oh…" She said in disappointment.

He thought about his previous life and the thrilling stories he could twist it into. Especially once Potter-Who-Lived invited more chaos upon it. "There are some passed through families...I know of one that's about an Old Phoenix, an Evil Snake, a Spy and The-Boy-Who-Lived."

Megan grabbed his arm and bounced in her seat from excitement. "Would you tell me?"

"They have a lot of adventures...but I suppose I could tell you some."

Megan beamed at him. "You know lots of cool stuff, Severus."

He grinned back at the little girl. "Yes, I suppose I do."