A/N: Hello! It's Monday! Almost...

To any and all who noticed, the tall lady working the counter at Slug and Jiggers in the previous chapter was, in fact, Sheridan Cadogan from Deborah Peter's 'The Apprentice' and the old man was most definitely Master Jigger. I have nodded to this work before, (In the description, obviously, and when Severus asked to take his NEWTs early and possibly in other small ways I forgot about) for not only was this fic of mine inspired by it, but it will always be one of my favorites, even if it is still (and will probably always be) incomplete. *cries*

I know I have had ideas inspired by other works as well, though the names of those I do not remember. Just know, anything you may recognize from somewhere else was just so good I could not fail to include at least its essence in my story.

Unfortunately for anyone who wishes I would write this faster, including myself, I got my hands on farcry5 so I've been playing a lot of that instead of writing like the bad (former?) gamer I am…but i wrote a lot this weekend! I also went back and changed the 'wolf' in the woods into a 'stray dog' that the muggles saw, I hope I caught all of it...

Anyway, see you again on Wednesday or Thursday or next Monday at the latest. ;) Promise!

And now, for your feature presentation:

Severus opened the door to let his mother into the house. "Not that I'm opposed to the idea in the slightest...but why did you get an owl?"

"I thought having the ability to write to my son while he's at school would be nice. Also, you should be able to write to your friends as well, not all of them live just a few blocks away."

He didn't have more than just the one friend, but he wasn't about to correct her. And he was attempting to make a few more, it didn't just happen...or did it? He wouldn't know.

"That is-...but where shall we keep him? Somewhere Da won't see would probably be best...at least for a while."

She frowned. "I was just having the same thought."

"He could stay in my room, I have a window. That way I can easily work on a cure for his feather problem as well."

"You still have that boggart, though."

"And it hasn't made a sound since I released it in my closet."

Her eyebrows shot up.

"I can't put it back in the woods, the muggles will find it. I'm still working on a solution."

Eileen processed the information and finished with a heavy sigh. "Your room would probably be best for Amun until we break the news to Toby."

He nodded his agreement and swiftly, definitely not eagerly, took the little owl upstairs to set up a space for him.

Tobias did not return that evening.

After Eileen had waited 'long enough' to hear from him, she phoned Carl.

His father had apparently drank far more than usual, which occasionally happened on Fridays, and did not have the motivation to drag himself home. He was currently unconscious on the Bauers' couch.

Eileen visibly relaxed from the information.

Severus went up to his room to try and get some rest without stressing about the man who wasn't home. He made sure to leave his window open for his new companion to stretch his patchy wings before he fell asleep.

The following day, Severus decided he would enjoy his first official 'day off' no matter what. And no matter how much grumbling his father decided was necessary once he returned home.

If he returned.

The thought of him simply not ever coming back was nice, but it would be terribly distressing for Eileen. He dismissed the brief fantasy, for the man always did seem to return despite the unanimous misery.

Until he didn't, but that was another time, literally.

Severus wasted no time in getting to work on his projects with his newly acquired supplies. He found himself back in the confines of the small shack by ten, Lily on his heels since the playground.

"The full moon is tonight, Sev." She noted aloud.

"I am aware." He dismissed. They were in no danger if they made it home before dark. Besides, he had faced a werewolf before, on two seperate occassions, and once without a wand! This one was significantly smaller as well, they would be fine. "My mother purchased an owl yesterday."

She nearly stumbled at the unexpected news. "And how has your father taken to it?"

"He is unaware, as of yet, to the latest addition to the household. The owl is to stay in my room, hopefully unnoticed, until my Mum can get him used to the idea."

"I can't imagine he'll be pleased."

"No, my potion for him should help with that."

She stopped in her tracks. "You're going to drug your own father?"

He laughed. "Not so much as 'strongly encourage' him to stop drinking."

"Well, I suppose that isn't so bad." Lily mumbled as she caught back up to him.

"Amun has a mild disease, that keeps his feathers from growing in properly, that I plan to brew a cure for. But, aside from that, if you find yourself in need of an owl, I could lend him to you. Though if you make it a habit, I might have to charge a fee."

She giggled. "Thanks, Sev, I'll keep that in mind when my friends take too long to write."

The two of them settled into their now 'secret' hiding place that the muggles would now find quite difficult to locate. Lily decided to 'meditate' in preparation of more occlumency lessons, so he started a brew.

He had just begun a prototype of the potion his mother requested for his father when he heard something outside the shack.

Severus quickly and silently moved next to the door and drew his wand.

"Sev, what-"

"Shh!"

He motioned her to move from the center of the floor. She comprehended the situation and scooted over to hide next to the wardrobe, her wand now drawn.

Constant vigilance.

He felt his wards drop and then slowly, painfully so, the door to the shack opened.

Lily's breathing became shallow.

Once he saw movement in his field of vision, he snatched at it with his free hand. He grabbed onto a wand, pulling its owner the rest of the way into the doorway. She did not release it, nor did Severus, with his own wand now pointed at her nose.

The woman smirked at him. "Nice reflexes, kid, but you don't want to use that on me."

"You are correct in that I'd rather not use it, for the ministry would not be amused. Though, I'm disinclined to be caught unarmed."

She pulled out of his loosening grasp and lowered her wand.

He lowered his as well.

The woman looked familiar...but he couldn't connect a name to her face. She was dressed oddly, like most of the magical world when they tried to blend in with muggles.

Her gaze landed on Lily. "Oh, did I catch a couple of lovebirds?" Her eyes then left Lily and darted around the small space to settle on his potion. "Brewing something, I see."

"State your business." Severus demanded.

She scoffed. "You first, this area is under investigation."

"We live nearby. Your 'crime scene' is that way," he gestured, "so back off."

She inched closer to him. "The entire area is a 'crime scene' with a werewolf about."

"Werewolf?" Lily parroted in mock surprise.

"Yes, love, a werewolf," She stressed the last word, obviously trying to scare Lily, if not both of them. "and the full moon is tonight."

"Well isn't that nice. Lucky for us, there's still plenty of daylight to enjoy the afternoon." Severus drawled in a bored tone. He waited a tick before making his point: "Uninterrupted."

The woman scowled, but it was not as practiced as his mother's. "I am Eleanor Kennewick of the werewolf capture unit. I will find the werewolf and bring it to the ministry to be registered and dealt with by whatever methods they deem necessary depending on the circumstances."

She suddenly pointed her wand at Severus. "You will cooperate."

Kennewick. This woman would be their defense teacher once school resumed in September. That's why she looked familiar, but he simply wasn't able to place her out of context.

He glanced at Lily, who was now pointing her wand at their intruder, and then slowly tucked his wand into his denims.

"Alright." He raised his hands in surrender. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything you know about what happened in the woods last month."

"We were still in school." Lily started.

"You live in a small town, my dear, I'm sure you heard something about it."

"I heard-" Severus drew her attention back to him. "there was a 'monster' in the woods. A bunch of muggles, our age, were out looking for it the other night and I joined them."

He thought it best to leave Lily out of his story.

"And did you find anything?" She pressed.

Lily looked shocked that he had freely given such information to a stranger, but he continued. "Tracks."

"So what? There's endless tracks in the woods."

"Yes, I followed the Canine tracks. Then they suddenly turned to human tracks."

The woman did little to hide her eagerness. "Where? Where do they turn to human tracks?"

"I don't remember exactly, but I could find them again and show you."

She looked skeptical then and eyed Lily.

"Would you stay here and make sure my potion doesn't boil over?" He asked her.

Lily looked thoughtful as she pondered a response, perhaps realizing that he had a plan.

"Sure." She finally said.