Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters don't belong to me. Queen Clairion belongs to Disney. Lichen and all of the other faeries belong to me.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but I've been busy the past few weeks. I have no idea why Lichen is so popular, but I'm happy he's been accepted. He was originally modeled after a Sidhe, which is a type of warrior faerie. For my next installment, I am in need of two names for animal-talent faeries. So, please review and I will use the names in future stories. Thanks for all the support!
No Good Deed…
Story 6
Lichen goes skiing.
By: Ysidro
It was the day after exams had ended. All of Snape's infernal students had gone home to see their loved or not so loved ones. Severus was sitting by the lake, his outer robes and waistcoat discarded in a black heap next to one of the many trees. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply; he had two months of blessed solitude ahead of him. All too soon, the tranquil scene was broken by the call of Snape's only friend.
"Howdy Sev!" called Lichen from the lake. Snape's eyes flew open in surprise. "Beautiful day isn't it?"
The prince of the faeries was water-skiing Severus supposed. Lichen's feet were tied to a pair of dragonflies with pieces of vine and he was skimming across the water. He let go of the rope for a moment and waved at Severus. Then, he hit the giant squid.
"Dammit Lichen!" Snape yelled as he got up. He quickly kicked off his shoes and socks while running towards the lake. "Can't you Bloody well watch where you're going?"
Reaching the edge of the lake, Snape dove into the murky water, hoping to Merlin that the giant squid would not consider him lunch. He rose to the surface, hearing the muffled cries of the soaking wet faerie not too far away. Of course, Lichen couldn't swim, his wings were wet, and he wasn't a water-talent faerie. The only talent he seemed to have was annoying Severus.
"Blasted faerie," he grumbled to himself as he swam across the Hogwarts Lake. He thanked Merlin that at least he could swim.
"HELP!" blubbered Lichen as the dragonflies began to fly in opposite directions and dunked his blonde head underwater. He came up, gasping for air, but continued to yell. "HELP SEVERUS!"
"You're fine you damned sprite," Severus said as he approached the waterlogged faerie.
The professor began to tread water, snatching his friend out of the lake. The giant squid looked at them questionably as Snape unfastened the prince from his protesting skis. After quick non-verbal drying spell, Lichen was flying around like normal. Now Snape just had to get to shore.
"Blast it!" Snape yelled as the giant squid decided he would make a nice meal. He felt one of the giant tentacles slither around his left ankle. "Lichen!"
"Oh, this is just jingly," Lichen said as he flew around, watching as Severus was unceremoniously dunked underwater. "If I could just talk to it…Severus, do you speak squid?"
"Get Marigold Lichen!" Severus managed to yell around a mouthful of water. Snape was reminded of stories of witches being dunked numerous times by Muggles to admit what they were. Unfortunately, reasoning with the Kraken was another story entirely.
"Oh, yeah. Goldie! Your Prince needs you!"
With a POP the blond faerie appeared next to her prince. She was wearing a scornful expression as she watched the giant squid attempt to eat Severus. Just before Snape was dragged towards the animal's gaping mouth, Marigold began to make squelching sounds. Snape supposed she was speaking giant squid.
Severus felt the pressure on his ankle slacken as the squelching continued. Frantically, Severus swam to shore, leaving Marigold to her conversation. He managed to heave himself onto the bank, gasping for breath and soaking wet.
"Are you okay Sev?" Lichen flew over with a look of concern on his face. "That was a close one."
"No thanks to you," Severus managed to gasp, his long black hair plastered to his face. "Now I have to explain why my clothes are so damned wet."
"Hey, your hair's not so shiny," Lichen interrupted, getting off topic as usual. Obviously, Severus having a near-death experience was not interesting enough. "And it's curly! Sev's got curly hair! Sev's got curly hair!"
Frantically, Snape began pulling at the numerous black curls framing his face. His hair had never been greasy; using vast amounts of gel was the only way to calm his damned curls. By the time Marigold fluttered toward the pair, Snape's lip was curling as well.
"Thank you Marigold," Snape said, ignoring the fact that Lichen was hovering next to his ear. "You saved my life."
"Anything to help a friend of Prince Lichen," she said, nodding towards the male faerie.
"What did you tell the Kraken anyways?"
"I told him you tasted like pickled maggots," was Marigold's simple reply before she disappeared.
Severus glared at the empty space where Marigold has once been, unsure whether to be offended or thankful. He picked himself up off of the grassy bank and stalked over to the tree where his outer robes were bundled. He ignored the fact that Lichen was buzzing behind him, begging his forgiveness in his high squeaky voice. Severus would let the prince stew in his own juices for a while before he accepted his apology.
As Severus trudged towards the Hogwarts castle, he suddenly began to crave calamari.