Fleeing to the Continent had seemed a good plan. Lavender's family had traveled extensively in Europe since she was a small child. Her French was flawless, and no one in England would think anything of it if her parents left the country for an extended European vacation or even relocated to Europe to recover from their "grief".

She was familiar with Paris and its magical community, but had not visited the area in several years. With her matured body, her scarred face and the absence of her parents, she had no real concerns about being recognized.

May 3, 1998

She was worn out from another emotionally exhausting day, but Lavender was determined to read at least some of Professor McGonagall's book about lycanthropy before she went to sleep. She'd never been much of a studier, but for the first time in her life, she was dealing with a situation outside of her parents' expertise and she hated her ignorance. 'I'm the werewolf, and I have to be the expert too, I guess,' she thought, lifting the heavy tome from her nightstand.

A piece of parchment fell out of the book. She'd forgotten that she'd tucked the Wolfsbane potion recipe into the book that morning for safe-keeping before Apparating home. She decided to review it again in more detail. Her cursory review that morning had told her brewing it would be outside her skill set, but perhaps if she was careful….

Several minutes later, a pale Lavender was profoundly thankful that she had taken the time tonight to read the recipe carefully. In her hasty review that morning, she'd missed the notes Professor Snape had made on the back of the recipe, and those were eye-opening to say the least.

As a result of the additional information, she knew that she had to start daily Wolfsbane potion dosages one week prior to the full moon and that even one missed dose could render the potion ineffective. Since the full moon was on May 11th, that meant that she had to take the first dose the day after tomorrow.

She shuddered as she realized how close she had come to mucking that up, and could almost hear Professor Snape's derisive snort in her head at her foolishness. She wondered if his spirit had somehow pushed the parchment out of the book and into her lap.

"I'm sorry, Professor," she whispered. "Gryffindors really are a bunch of dunderheads who don't know how to read thoroughly, aren't we? Oh Gods, thank you for writing this down!" She was still trembling.

His notes also made it plain that she would be foolish in the extreme to try to brew it herself, indicating that wolfsbane was poisonous and brewing method complex. Here his underscore marks had been so violently drawn that they had nearly gone through the parchment, and she had to wonder if brewing was something Professor Lupin had threatened to do.

She also now understood she could make no modifications to the final product without risking its efficacy. ("Do not add sweetener. Do not add ANYTHING," Snape had written.)

Lavender knew that meant the potion was unlikely to taste good. Setting the recipe on the nightstand and picking up her book, she could not help but wonder if in the next few months her bloody eyeball boggart would be replaced by a steaming blue potion.

May 5, 1998

"Bloody hell!" Lavender gasped, before being double in a coughing fit as she fought to keep the potion down.

"Language, Lavender," her mother admonished, conjuring a towel to dab her daughter's sweating brow. Lavender's parents had been hovering protectively since she had ended the miniaturization spell on the bottle. Both had wanted to be there when she took her first dose. Both were distressed by their daughter's reaction.

Lavender won the fight to keep the vile substance down, then dropped weakly into a chair, taking the towel from her mother to wipe her streaming eyes. "I'm a werewolf now, Mother. I think I get to swear," she said dryly. "That was horrible!"

Her father was frowning over the recipe. "I was at school with Severus Snape. He could be a nasty bit of work if he didn't like you, and there was never any love lost between him and Remus Lupin. I wonder if he was telling the truth about altered taste affecting efficacy."

"I don't know, Daddy, but it's not like I'm going to risk it." Lavender raised her chin. "It's once a day for seven days. If it allows me to keep my mind, then I will happily pay the cost. Well, maybe not happily, but…"

Gideon frowned. "Some of these ingredients are expensive. You are going to need to find a potioneer who is not only skilled but honest as well, Lavender. Otherwise, you could end up with someone who substitutes cheaper ingredients with an eye to pocket the cost difference."

He sat down next to his daughter. "You're sure you don't want me to have a quiet word with some of my sources here?"

Lavender hugged him. "Daddy, I promise if I haven't found someone in six weeks, I will let you know. I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be taking a sudden interest in werewolf-related issues right now. I mean, we never have before, so how would that look?"

Her mother was now studying the recipe, and was also frowning. "Severus was always a gifted brewer, but I know inventing a new potion involves a lot of trial and error. I don't see how he would have had the funds to invent this. He never seemed to have a lot of money when we were in school. Perhaps he was working with someone else?"

"Oh, he didn't invent it. That was someone called Damocles Belby." Lavender knew this from Professor McGonagall's book, which was proving to be well worth the read.

"Belby?" Evanelda looked at Gideon. "Wasn't your Great-Aunt Pertha's husband a Belby?"

"Hmmm. You may be right about that." Gideon stood and looked down at his daughter. "You get settled in at the new flat and start looking around for a trustworthy brewer. I'll do some quiet research into the family tree and see what I can find out there."

His eyes took on a steely glint. "One way or another, we will make sure you never run out of that potion."

May 6, 1998

Lavender and Sunshine the house elf popped into the new Parisian flat mid-afternoon. There was not much unpacking to do, as Sunshine had been popping back and forth with luggage and other belongings for the past several days.

While Sunshine put the final items away, Lavender wandered around the flat a bit aimlessly. The furnishings were beautiful and in colors she liked – creams and soft greens, with some purple accents. The walls had been deliberately left bare and there were other opportunities to make the place reflect her own sense of style. Evanelda knew her daughter loved to shop and that she would need something to occupy both her time and her mind as she waited on the eleventh and her first change. Lavender was grateful now for her mother's wisdom.

"Thank you, Mummy," she whispered. She was again conscious of how fortunate she was in her parents. They'd known no more about werewolves at the beginning of this process than she had, but their love and support for her was as resolute as it had always been. Her throat ached under a wave of homesickness, but she was determined not to cry again.

"Buck up, Lavender," she told herself now. "Werewolves don't cry."

She hesitated at the door to the panic room, accessible through a hidden door at the back of her bedroom closet. It could be opened at wandpoint from the outside only with the speaking of her name. They'd purchased a second wand for that purpose, and Sunshine had tested it to make sure it would work for her.

The room would lock automatically when the door closed after entry. Once locked, unless someone outside the room deliberately unlocked it, the door would not open until it unlocked automatically thirty hours later. That time interval could be modified later if needed, but the warding magicians would need to come back out to do that.

"Sunshine?" Lavender called.

"Yes, missy?" Sunshine was there immediately.

"I'm going in. Could you unlock the door again in ten minutes?"

The small house elf nodded solemnly. Lavender raised her chin, touched her wand firmly to the door and said "Lavender." (She knew that as protection words went, it was far from imaginative, but she had to imagine that her name would be at the forefront of the brain of any person who was worried about her in the room.)

The steel reinforced door swung silently inward. Lavender exchanged glances with Sunshine, then stepped firmly forward.

"I'll see you in ten minutes," she said, stepping into the room and motioning the door closed with her wand before she could lose her nerve.

She took a deep breath as the heavy door shut, and turned to face the room. It was painted a very pale blue, which was said to be a calming color, with white accents. There was a very large comfortable chair against one wall complete with oversized ottoman, next to a small bookshelf which held several books and magazines.

There was a small refrigerator in a locked closet, also behind a steel door which could be unlocked only with a wand and security word. The fridge already held some bottles of water and the three remaining miniaturized bottles of Wolfsbane potion, along with the full size bottle that would provide the dosage she would take that evening.

The decision on where to store the Wolfsbane in the new flat had been a difficult one. Even in stasis form, it had to be kept cool, so a refrigerator was required.

She hoped that at some future point she would have friends who she could invite over. This meant she did not want the potion, with its odd blue color, sitting in the main flat refrigerator, where it could bring unwanted questions from guests helping themselves to a drink or snack.

She had finally decided to store it in the panic room, where it would be safe from guest detection. This was the main reason why a second wand was stored in the main part of the flat – she was afraid she would accidentally lock herself in during one of her daily visits for her potion dosage each month. The door was supposed to require a wand motion to close within the first ten minutes after opening, automatically closing after that. However, Lavender hadn't scored an O on her Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. for nothing. "Constant vigilance," she murmured.

The extra steel door that secured the small refrigerator was her "Just in Case" security door. While she was counting on the potion to work, and on herself not to miss a dose, she knew from Minerva that even Professor Lupin had missed a dose at least once. She did not want any future risk of mindless Wolf Lavender knocking over the refrigerator in a wolfie fit and destroying the bottles within.

Wolf Lavender, having no opposable thumbs or speaking voice, would be unable to open the door to access the fridge in the panic room. Her parents had been pretty impressed that she'd thought of this, and Lavender had to confess she was fairly chuffed at herself.

She really had put a great deal of thought into this space, although she fully expected to learn more about what she would need with each of the first few changes. The floor was lushly carpeted and there was a large comfortable looking stuffed pallet on the floor under the window illusion.

On the opposite wall, there was a small bathroom, which contained a doorless shower. She didn't know if Wolf Lavender was going to need to use the loo, but if so, she couldn't see herself squatting on all fours over the toilet and she certainly wasn't going to go on the carpet. It would be embarrassing enough to pee on the shower floor, but that would be easily rinsed once she regained human form.

Lighting was all overhead and could be turned off with a Nox spell – there were no lamps to be knocked over. A few Reparos might be needed for books, chair or bookshelf until Wolf Lavender learned to control her tail or instincts, but those repairs should be easily accomplished.

She cast a quick Tempus and realized she had about five minutes to go before Sunshine unlocked the door. Thirty hours was going to be a very long time. She looked around the main room again with renewed scrutiny.

With the room's sparse furnishings against the walls, there was a fair amount of open space. She wondered idly if she should bring in a few dog toys. She was fairly certain it would make her mother cry again to imagine her daughter in wolf form chasing a ball around the room or laying on the pallet gnawing on a bone. However, she would probably be in wolfie form for at least eight hours if not more, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to read. She hoped to sleep at least some of it away, but what if Wolf Lavender was an insomniac? Lavender didn't like being bored, and couldn't imagine that her wolf version was going to feel any differently. A bored Wolf Lavender might choose to eat the comfy chair, right mind or no.

"Dog toys it is then," she said to herself. "And maybe a water bowl for the bathroom."

The door swung silently open and Sunshine peered in. "You okay, Missy Lavender?"

"I am. Thanks, Sunshine." As Lavender left the panic room, she was surprised to realize she DID feel a bit better. She was still afraid of the coming change, but it helped to have a plan and a secure place.

Now, if she was remembering correctly, the larger food market in the center of the magical section of Paris had a rather large pet supply section. They'd gone there for pet food when Blinky was still alive. Lavender, who had always wanted a dog, had wandered over to the dog supply section a couple of times in the hopes that her parents would finally give in to her hints. Her father, though, had always claimed his allergies meant they couldn't have a dog or cat and that she should be happy with the rabbit.

A smile lit her face for the first time in days. She'd have to be sure to bring up those allergies in tomorrow night's Floo call with her parents. 'So you didn't want a dog, Daddy?'

"Sunshine, I'm going to run a few errands. I'll be back for dinner."