Disclaimer: All Harry Potter related characters belong to J.K. Rowling and Queen Clairion belongs to Disney. Lichen and all the other faeries belong to me.

No Good Deed...

By Ysidro

Story 1

Severus saves a faerie.

Severus knew he shouldn't have listened; he knew he should have just ignored the screaming. He would have been better off, or at least he tried to convince himself of it. It couldn't be undone now anyways.

The distinct sound of a screaming faerie had interrupted his harvesting of Eyebright that fateful night. The Potions teacher had jerked his head up, upsetting the delicate flowers and turning them into a useless pulp. He had cursed under his breath as he watched the fruits of his labor fall to the ground.

With a sigh, Severus had followed the sound of the squealing voice. It was on the way back to the castle, so he had figured it wouldn't do any harm. He was wrong.

A very small faerie dressed in green and brown was trying to ward off a fully-grown hawk. It was waving a spear hardly larger than a toothpick at the bird, which seemed to just be making it angrier. Blood was pouring out of the faerie's tiny limbs, but it seemed to be willing to fight anyways.

"Get out of the way you damned bird!" Severus yelled, pulling out his wand. "Stupefy!"

The hawk froze in the middle of an attack, and fell off the branch where the epic battle had taken place. Severus stalked over to check on the stupid pixie he had just saved. At least he could tell the damned pixie off.

"Ack!" the little male faerie yelled. He fumbled for his toothpick as Severus drew nearer. "You're one of THEM!"

"Bloody Hell," Severus said, rolling his eyes as he approached the valiant sprite. "I'm not going to hurt you; I'm here to help."

"Oh," the faerie looked at him reproachfully as he flinched. Then, he tottered to a stand and puffed out his tiny chest. "The great Prince Lichen of the Faeries doesn't need help."

"Fine, then I'll just un-stupefy that hawk and be on my way," Severus responded, turning his heel slowly.

"No…wait!" the faerie's voice was faint now. Severus turned back to the creature. "I guess I could use a Big's help."

"My name is Severus," he replied, taking a vial of Phoenix tears out of one of his robe's many pockets. "I am a wizard."

Severus uncorked the vial and placed a drop of the liquid on the faerie's head. In a moment, the creature was soaked in tears and the wounds healed instantaneously. Lichen looked up at Severus in awe.

"Wow!" he said, looking down at his now healed wounds. "That was amazing! You're not too bad for a Big…I mean wizard."

"You're welcome," Severus replied dismissively. "Now I will be on my way."

"Waaaaaaaait!" the faerie, Lichen, said, flying so he was in front of Snape's nose. "You can't leave yet! You've got to meet my parents."

"Thank you for your invitation, but I really must be going," Severus replied, trying desperately to swat the faerie away. "I'm sure your parents are wonderful."

"Why thank you for the complement."

The feminine voice was high but commanding; the voice of a royal, of that Severus had no doubt. He watched in well-hidden amazement as a faerie dressed in a rose-petal gown flew before him in a pumpkin carriage drawn by swallows. Her tiny heart-shaped face was regal and she exited the carriage on a stray branch.

"I am Queen Clairion of the Faeries of the Forbidden Forest," she said, looking up at the Potions teacher. "Thank you for saving my son. He tends to be very…unruly when there's danger afoot. I try to tell him to leave the defending to the guards, but he must interfere whenever he can."

Severus nodded his head in agreement, remembering Potter's total disregard for any sort of rule. He bowed slightly out of sheer habit. Though the queen was only about as tall as his finger, she gave off an air of royalty.

"You're more than welcome Your Highness," Snape said, snickering inwardly at the irony of that comment. "I know what it's like dealing with…over-enthusiastic students."

"His name's Severus Mum," Lichen said, flying over to the Queen. She looked barely older than him. "Can we show him the Village Mum? Can we? Can we please?"

"As long as Severus promises never to reveal our location, then he may see it."

Severus didn't really care about seeing the Faerie Village, but he figured he wasn't getting any younger. Faeries generally did not reveal themselves to people, let alone adults. He decided to take up the offer.

"I promise I will never reveal the location of the Faerie Village."

Severus watched as from out of the surrounding trees, tiny specs of light began to form. As he peered closer, Severus realized each was a faerie surrounded by an orb of illumination. It was a truly magical sight as over one-hundred faeries began to show themselves to the wizard.

"Thank you for saving our Prince!" they all cheered in unison. "You are welcome to come here whenever you like!"

"You're welcome faeries," Snape was smiling now, in spite of himself. The whole situation seemed ethereal, and it probably was. "I really must be going however. I have classes to teach in the morning."

A unified sigh echoed through the Village as Severus waved good-bye. Severus was fairly sure he would never be returning; he had never been fond of faeries; pickled or otherwise. He turned around and set off on his journey back to the castle. Unfortunately, solitude was never an option when faeries were involved.

"Why did you leave?" the voice of the faerie Lichen came from behind the Potions teacher. "Were you afraid or something? I should have told some people keep their lights off."

"No, I was not afraid," Severus replied scathingly. "I am not a people…or faerie… person, that's all. It is of no offense to you or your kind; I prefer to be alone."

"So you're afraid of being around others then," Lichen deduced. "That means we're going to have to fix that."

"There will be no 'fixing' me Lichen!" Snape yelled at the faerie, blowing him a few inches away. "I am completely fine by myself thank you."

"Well aren't you a thorny one Severus." The faerie had re-gained his composure and was now walking on air. "A few days with me though, and we'll get all those prickles out of you."

Thus, the unlikely friendship of Prince Lichen and Severus Snape was formed. From that day forward, Lichen ensured to stay stuck on Snape like a burr to a trouser-leg. And, though Snape would never admit it to anyone, he enjoyed the company.

**************

Story 2

Lichen learns how to mark

"What are you doing?" Lichen said looking up at Severus as he leaned against an inkwell. "Looks complicated."

"I'm trying to mark essays for Lupin," Severus scowled at the faerie. "Poorly done essays."

"Uh huh," Lichen nodded, his pointy green hat bobbing up and down. Severus was fairly certain the only reason it stayed on was because he was magical. "What are they about?"

"Boggarts," Snape replied, gesturing towards Lichen with a flick of his quill. "Now, kindly rest your back against something else Lichen; I do need ink."

"What's a boggart?" Lichen asked as he strode across the desk and sat on a pile of parchment. "Sounds like something that comes out of your nose."

Lichen made an overly-expressive grimace, his hat pointing downwards in disgust. He definitely made Snape's life…interesting. Despite Severus's oath to keep the location of the Faerie Village a secret, Lichen refused to keep himself scarce.

"It is a shapeless being that takes the form of what you fear most," Snape sighed. "They like dark places to hide."

"Like you?" Lichen replied innocently, his green eyes staring at him.

Severus had never thought of that. It was a rather odd comparison; one that most people would not make if they knew what was good for them. Then again, Lichen had hit his prime when he was 20, and would continue possessing that naivety until the end of time.

"I am not hiding," Snape protested as he dipped his quill in the ink again. "I merely do not require company during every single moment of my existence."

"Oh," was the response the Potions' teacher got from his vertically-challenged companion.

For the next few minutes, Lichen was silent for once. This was a very rare, though not unappreciated, occurrence. After a while though, Snape couldn't stand it. What in the world was the little faerie so damned focused on?

"Says here you were someone's boggart," Lichen said, chuckling to himself. "He made you wear a dress and a stuffed vulture hat!"

"Let me see that!" Snape said, snatching the piece of parchment from under the faerie's bottom. Luckily, Lichen unfurled his wings fast enough to regain his balance. The small blond faerie hovered in the air behind Snape's shoulder as he read, resembling a demented conscience angel.

"Longbottom," Snape sneered, not bothering to read over the essay. He scrawled a large red "F" in red ink over the front of it. "Not even worth the parchment it's written on."

"What does 'F' stand for?" Lichen inquired, browsing the essay. "It means Fantastic, right?"

"Sure Lichen."

"Then 'A' must mean 'Amazing!'" Lichen started going on a tangent. "And 'B' is 'Brilliant!' Of course 'C' is…uh…'Creative' and a 'D' is 'Delightful!' Why isn't there an 'E' for 'Excellent?' And why do you stop at 'F?' I mean, there's…uh…21 other letters in the alphabet, why don't you use them? You could give someone an 'L' for 'Love It!'"

"I will let you know if I find an essay that is so poorly done that it deserves an 'L' if it will please you Lichen," Severus mumbled, continuing his marking. Snape suppressed a smile as Lichen settled himself on a pewter paperweight in the shape of a mini chair on his desk. It was Lichen's impromptu seat during their conversations.

"Jingly," Lichen replied, which Snape assumed was a good thing according to faeries.

There were a few moments of blessed silence interrupted only by the scratching of Severus' quill. Lichen amused himself by flying about the potions' ingredients and making faces in the glass. Having an attention span as short as himself however, Lichen soon began to talk.

"I know what my boggart would be," Lichen said, more to himself than to Snape. "It'd be a hawk. Those things scare me to pieces. They're big and terrifying and…pointy."

"And I'm not?" Snape replied, putting down his quill. "Lichen, why don't I terrify you? I am a human am I not? I thought you and you're kind were afraid of humans…especially adults."

"You're different Sev," Lichen said, settling down on the chair once again. "Most humans wouldn't have saved me when I got attacked by that hawk, but you did. You've got a good heart under those black robes."

"Apparently you're the only one who can see it."

"Isn't that enough?"

The pair remained silent for the rest of the evening.

**************

Story 3

Severus celebrates a birthday

"Happy Birthday Sev!" Lichen yelled in a very high and squeaky voice as Snape entered his office. The Potions teacher nearly had a heart attack as the faerie flew up to his face. "You're forty! I remember when I turned forty…it was…uh…okay, so maybe I don't remember. But I bet it was great!"

"Lichen, I am not one to celebrate birthdays," Severus responded as he re-gained his composure. If the faerie expected him to live another year, he would have to announce his presence in a less abrupt fashion. "One doesn't usually like to know they have one year less to live."

"Oh, stop being so thorny," Lichen scoffed, hovering in the air near Snape's nose. "Let's celebrate! I got a whole bunch of faeries together and we made you a cake!"

Severus had never been given a birthday cake before. Not by a friend anyways. His mother would try to scrounge up enough money to splurge on a cake for his birthday, but no one ever took the time to actually bake one for him. He absently wiped his eyes, telling himself he was just having an allergic reaction to the ever-present pollen on Lichen's wings.

"Okay everyone, come on out!"

Severus watched in utter amazement as at least one hundred faeries popped out of nowhere. All of them were wearing the same expression; one of sheer euphoria. And at least twenty of them were helping to hold up a cake on a carved wooden plate.

"Can we put this thing down now Prince Lichen?" whined one of the male faeries supporting the cake. "It's really heavy."

"Okay Squash," Lichen replied, snickering at the irony of his fellow's name. "You may now put down the cake."

Severus watched in amazement as the faeries surrounded the cake. Light-talent faeries buzzed in with forty fireflies in their wake. He could hardly believe it as the pastry, decorated in flowers and acorns, lit up the darkness of his office, and his heart.

"Happy Birthday Severus," greeted Lichen's parents, Queen Clairion and King Mortimer. They flew down to his desk in a carriage drawn by dragonflies. "May you experience many more."

"Thank you Your Highnesses," Severus said out of sheer habit, bowing slightly. "I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your hospitality."

"Aw, quit yattering and blow out the fireflies Sev!" Lichen said, clapping his hands and fluttering up and down. "Let's eat!"

Severus felt his eyes water again as he bent down to blow out his fireflies. Happy Birthday was sung one hundred out-of-tune voices strong as Severus let out a very gentle breath so none of his guests blew away. The fireflies turned off in unison, as if they were in fact candles.

"Thank you," was all Severus was able to say through his tears. "Thank you all for the cake."

"Cake time!" yelled Lichen as he did a swan-dive right into the cake's center. The next words were muffled around a faerie-sized mouthful of cake. "Let's eat!"

Severus somehow or another managed to get a piece of his own cake after moving Squash aside about ten times. It tasted horrible to say the least, but he managed to eat his piece without being sick. Besides, it was the thought that counted.

"Pretty nice birthday, huh Sev?" asked Lichen after the cake had been reduced to a pile of crumbs on his desk. There were currently faeries taking the remnants back with them for another splurge of indulgence. "Face it; you liked it."

"Thank you Lichen," Severus replied, dusting some cake crumbs off of his shoulder. Lichen had decided to enjoy the festivities from his shoulder and was as sloppy as ever. "That was the first time anyone made me a cake."

"Well then, we'll have to do it next year," Lichen said simply, settling once again on his shoulder. "And then the year after that and the year after that…"

And for the first time in his entire life, Severus Snape looked forward to his future birthdays.