Moon and Stone

"Feel better?"

It was a standard question; after more than a year of living in comfort and friendship at Hogwarts, even his curse had become part of the routine. Salazar nodded with his eyes shut, still basking in the heat and drowsiness of one of Helga's healing spells. The second round, the ones she went through after he'd eaten and rested a little. "Yess." He hesitated. "Don't go yet?"

"Of course not." He could hear the smile. After a moment, she added, "While we were waiting up for you last night, we were talking..."

"I've told you all you don't need to wait up for me," Salazar protested drowsily. "It'ss bad enough that I'm awake all night." A pause. "Sso what were you talking about?"

"Well, you know we've most of the major areas of magical studies covered, amongst the four of us... We were thinking perhaps we should look into taking apprentices, maybe start a school."

Salazar opened his eyes quickly, blinked at her several times, then closed them again and leaned back. "Ah. Well. When ssshould I leave, then?"

Helga stared at him speechlessly for a long moment and finally settled on, "What part of 'amongst the four of us' did you miss, Salazar?"

"You're not sserioussly thinking of having a werewolf at a sssschool! Much lesss teaching! Even if you three have losst your ssanity, I haven't."

"Well, we couldn't do it without you. And it's not as if we haven't proven we can make the full moon safe for everyone except you...."

"That'ss besside the point!" Salazar exclaimed agitatedly. "What parentss would apprenticce their children to a werewolf? You wouldn't have any sstudentss."

"Well, we'll have to see about that part."

"...Helga, the three of you have been very....undersstanding, but I know how otherss would -- DO -- react. It's a grand idea. You three will make wonderful teacherss. I jussst...can't be one of them," he said wistfully.

"As I said, we can't do it without you. None of us is really qualified to teach brewing."

"You've learned a great deal thesse passt monthss," he protested, though his heart was aching. "I could leave you notess to help ssee you through."

"Salazar. Let's try this." Helga leaned over him and put her hand on his cheek. "You aren't leaving, not unless you want to and I find that rather unlikely. If we had to choose between having you stay and starting the school, you stay. We would still like to try the idea, if it seems it might work."

"But I--" Salazar stopped and closed his eyes, just feeling the warmth of her hand against his face for a long moment. Strength and solace. Finally he opened his eyes again. "I don't want to leave, no. And...a sschool is a wonderful idea. I jusst...don't want to ruin the entire venture."

"You are far too dear to us to sacrifice for a dream we haven't even begun. If we can't have both, we want you here." She smiled down at him. "Do you want to try?"

"...Yesss. If you're all sure..."

"Sure it'll work? No. Sure we'd like to, with you? Yes."

"All right, all right. Jusst don't blame me when every parent comess russhing up to ssave their poor child from the werewolf."

"Hmph. In such an event, I assure you we wouldn't."

"Very well, then. You can tell Godric and Rowena to sstop lurking at my door and come in."

She laughed and glanced up at the doorway. "Oh, very well. Come on in so we can make plans."

"We weren't lurking," Godric protested with offended dignity as he stepped inside, followed by a grinning Rowena. "We just happened to be nearby."

"You don't even try to be plausible, do you?"

"You wouldn't believe me anyway. So, Professor Slytherin--" Godric plopped down in the nearest chair, his excitement palpable, "--lycanthropic reservations aside, what DO you think of the idea?"

"I think you're all mad --"

"That's a reservation."

"But not entirely a lycanthropic one. But it isss...an intriguing idea."

"Too many witches and wizards these days wind up with little or no knowledge in entire areas of magic," Rowena began in her lecturing tone, making Godric grin at her. "They learn only what their teacher is best at, and don't get any grounding at all in other areas, regardless of their own talents. By having all four of us, we can make sure all students know at least something about every area, and of course specialize where their talents lie. I know it's an unusual idea, but...."

"I love it when she talks like that," Godric interrupted, winking at Salazar. "She was a born professor, wasn't she?"

"Jusst don't let her do the introductionss. Sshe might be too intimidating."

"No, we'll leave that to Helga. She talked you into staying; she can convince anyone."

Helga laughed and half-bowed from her position by the bed. "So I'm in charge of welcome and reassurance, am I? And transfiguration, I would assume...."

"And patching up the sstudentss when the resst of us break them," Salazar inserted wryly. "Though I promisse to keep your pharmaccy well-sstocked."

"Much appreciated."

"Then Salazar's got brewing, I'll take general spell-casting, and Rowena can dance through all the hard stuff she tries to convince us is simple." Godric grinned at Rowena again when she made an offended noise. "At least to start. We can shuffle around when we see what works best."

"There has to be something Rowena can manage to teach at a basic level...."

"She could always take on some of the ones who have had decent training early on," Godric suggested. "Or who perk up at her lectures instead of starting to look for an escape route. That's how I ended up working with her, you know."

"I am still here, you know!"

Godric beamed fondly at her. "Yes, we know."

"If we're really going to try to be respectable professsors," Salazar interjected in amusement, managing to look innocent and mischievous at once, "perhapss you two sshould sstop pretending the resst of us are blind. Married professsors will add to our respectibility."

"Or at least prevent the two of you from impugning it," Helga added after a beat.

Godric and Rowena exchanged a Look, then laughed. "You're quite right," Godric said seriously a moment later. "Excellent point. So, a double wedding then? When?"

Helga turned a very deep pink. "That's not -- I'm sure he wasn't -- Salazar, a little help please?"

But Salazar was looking at her with a considering expression and dark eyes thoughtful. "It'ss not a bad idea," he finally said quietly.

Helga, who didn't really think so either but had not been expecting this reponse at all, squeaked. "Words fail her, apparently," Rowena observed.

"There is a first time for everything," Godric added sagely.

"You can go now, Godric," Salazar told him without looking, his eyes still trained on Helga.

"He never listens when I tell him that," Helga informed him a bit faintly. "Rowena, could you lure him off or something? Or did we need her here?"

"Ssshe has ssense enough to leave on her own."

"We'll work out the details later, then," Rowena said, trying to repress the smile that was working up and taking Godric by the arm.

It crossed Helga's mind that perhaps there was a reason, after all, that so many animals were said to freeze in a serpent's gaze. She didn't seem to be able to move, and kept forgetting to breathe. Only Salazar's eyes were warm. And they were friends; they were comfortable together -- weren't they? -- there was no reason to feel as if her heart would stop at his next words. Well, then again, the excited tension was actually rather pleasant.

"You're sso quiet," Salazar commented softly after the door closed behind Godric and Rowena. He took her hand from where it lay limply on the bed and stroked the palm lightly. "Didn't you ever realize?"

She shivered lightly and folded her hand over his fingertips. "It occurred to me. It's certainly not an... unwelcome idea. Only I thought perhaps I'd imagined it."

"We're friendss. You acccept me as I am. You're kind and compasssionate, sso lovely, and you make me laugh." He raised her hand and pressed it to his lips gently. "Marry me?"

Her voice was very soft but very definite. "Gladly."

A smile appeared on his face like the moon coming out from behind the clouds. "Thank you." His hand tightened around hers even as his thumb continued lightly stroking her palm. "You realize...I don't know if... lycanthropy passsses to children...."

"I don't know either. But if we can't find out...well. Even if we have none of our own, there will be children aplenty here, if the school goes well."

He nodded. "I jussst wanted to make sssure you...knew the rissskss. Though if anyone would, it'ss my Healer. I jussst..." He blew out a breath and raised his free hand to touch her cheek lightly. "Thank you."

"My thanks to you." She turned her face slightly into the touch.

"I ssupposse I sshould be grateful to Godric for blurting thingss out like that. I wass trying to get up the courage to ssay ssomething, and never quite managed."

She chuckled softly. "His company has its advantages sometimes, even if it was embarrassing."

"It'ss worth it."

"Yes." She leaned down over him until the tips of their noses touched. "I think it is."

He felt his blood singing, but didn't think it was entirely due to the wolf inside. He closed his eyes and pushed it down fiercely, then joined his lips to hers. He could be calm -- sort of. He could be restrained -- all right, not really. But he could keep the bloodlust down to a dull roaring in his ears and concentrate on the purely human passions for now.

Helga's eyes drifted shut too and she moved carefully to sit on the edge of the bed instead of her chair, then more carefully still poked out the tip of her tongue to touch his upper lip. Salazar hissed. She jumped.

He jumped too, eyes flying open and pulling back from her, though his hands grabbed hers and held on with frantic rigidity. "I'm ssssorry! I'm sssorry, Helga, I'm sssssorry. Are you hurt?"

"No, no --" She squeezed his hands tightly and reassuringly. "Don't worry. I was just startled. I suppose I should have expected -- well, then again, maybe not. At any rate I didn't."

"Expected..? I didn't bite you, did I?" His skin was cool and very pale.

"No." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I just wasn't expecting you to hiss when I, ah," Helga turned pink again. "Licked you."

All the tension drained out of Salazar abruptly, leaving his hands a little shaky and the rest of him trembling with suppressed laughter. "That? Helga, I'm a Parsselmouth." He kissed the tip of her nose, still laughing, then her lips in a short but sweet embrace. "I hissss at all ssortss of odd timess, love."

"So I have just noticed. That simply wasn't one that had occurred to me." She nuzzled his cheek lightly. "I didn't mean to alarm you." A pause. "I didn't mean for you to end up laughing at me, either, but I suppose that's an improvement." She was grinning.

"Not laughing at you. Laughing with you," he corrected with as much dignity as he could manage while he was still chuckling, pressing light kisses to her jaw, and trying to pull her closer. "I jussst thought...it'ss sso easy now to losse control."

Helga hugged him tightly, then sat up again and began taking her shoes off. "You didn't. And I trust you."

"....That awess me. And humbless me. It alwayss hass, but even more now...."

"You have always been worthy of it."

He hissed softly. "I'm jusst glad you think sso."

"Of course I do." She set her shoes very neatly beside each other and then drew up her feet and curled beside him.

"Mmm." He wrapped his arms around her and leaned his head against hers. "I never thought, after....all that happened, that I could be...ssso happy. Like thiss."

"I am happy...with you. Like this." She smiled. "And here I had resigned myself to being the spinster-crone."

"Ssspinsster, perhapsss, but crone? If thisss iss what all croness look like, they have recceived a very bad reputation!"

"Well, eventually...."

"Mm. No, it iss imposssible. Sssorry."

Helga laughed at him and stretched out alongside him. And then kissed him again. He tried not to hiss and startle her again, but as her hands twined in his hair and pulled him closer, he couldn't hold in a low hiss. This time, though, she just giggled slightly, murmured, "That tickles," and returned to kissing him without any wasted breath.

"Mmmsss. You don't mind then?" he murmured when they next had to pause.

"Of course not. I told you I was just startled the first time." A mischievous grin as she freed one hand from his hair and started playing her fingers over the side of his neck. "Granted I don't try to talk in the middle of a kiss, but if you want to..."

"You jusst did talk in the middle of a kisss," he pointed out. "And it'ss not talking. If I hisssed like that to a ssnake, it would probably look at me sstrangely and sslither away as fasst as posssible."

She giggled. "So I did. And that's a very amusing image."

"I live to amusse you. And kissss you." He lowered his head again to continue with the latter.

*****

The four Founders of Hogwarts stood on the front steps to the school, ready to welcome their new students. Only an observer who knew them well could see the nerves through the welcoming smiles and excited eyes they presented to the outside world. (And the only ones who knew any of them well enough were standing up there beside them, so their secret was probably safe.)

Twenty eager children, the youngest ten and the eldest thirteen, were being escorted to the castle today by parents or friends Godric had arranged to travel alongside children who needed it. The decision of which students to take had been surprisingly fierce after the relatively easy agreements to found the school and which subjects to cover. Rowena had argued that only children who'd shown a devotion to scholarship would be appropriate pupils, while Godric felt they needed to prove themselves worthy first with bold acts of courage, to show they could handle the rigors of study.

It was the only time Salazar could remember the two -- now husband and wife -- actually shouting at each other beneath the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. His and Helga's argument had been less... heated, but the beliefs no less sincerely held. Salazar, afraid both of reactions to his own condition and of the ever-looming menace of Muggle mobs, wanted to keep entry limited to only children of magical families. Though he didn't exactly subscribe to his family's idea that Muggles were lesser types of human (and Muggle-born wizards a reviled concept never even mentioned), Salazar had to admit to himself that he still wasn't quite sure he trusted them. Rowena was the exception, of course. Helga argued with them all that any child with the ability to do magic should be admitted as long as they were willing to work hard.

In the end, they'd agreed on choosing students individually for their own Houses, but teaching all in common. Salazar thought it was a rather brilliant compromise, personally. They'd spend months choosing the students and getting everything ready, but now -- at last! -- it was time.

Salazar tucked a much-handled envelope back inside his robes and tried to keep his face impassive. "If they don't arrive sssoon, I may losse my mind," he commented casually.

Helga looked up at him and squeezed his arm. Rowena asked innocently, "Would that be new?"

"No, he usually says we've lost ours," Godric explained.

Salazar sniffed haughtily and explained, "I finally tracked mine down hiding behind that old sstorage cupboard in my new Potionss classsroom lasst week. I'd hate to lossse it again sso ssoon."

They laughed. Helga rested her head comfortably against his shoulder. "Yes, that would be a shame. Was it with the letter you've been fidgeting over?"

Salazar blinked and reached automatically for his inner pocket, then stopped and said evasively, "What letter?"

"The one you were playing with a minute ago -- I'd guess it to be the same one you were working on during the night."

"Oh. That. It'ssss nothing." He smoothed the fabric over his pocket, then looked back out at the road. "Aren't they here yet?"

"Unless they are invisible," Rowena said judiciously, "no."

"There'ss no need to be ssarcassstic."

"I was only teasing you. Though it's quite true, really."

Salazar sighed and wrapped one arm around Helga, leaning against her. "I'm jusst impatient." A pause, then so casually it was immediately suspicious, he added, "Godric, you sssaid your friend wass heading sssouth after leaving here, yess? By Chesssster, along the coassst?"

"Yes, why?"

A shrug. "Jussst checking."

Godric watched him appraisingly for a long moment. "Are you feeling well?"

"Yessss," Salazar hissed exasperatedly.

"Sorry. It's just you're hissing enough I'd think you hadn't slept for a couple days, or were coming down with something." Godric's mouth quirked. "If it's just nerves, well enough -- I can hardly say anything there."

"Helga takesss care of me well enough I'm ccertainly not coming down with anything." Salazar gave his wife a tender look. "I...didn't sssleep much the passst few nightss, no." He was silent for a moment, then added quietly, "Not sssince you mentioned your friend. I -- My family isss from Chessster. I thought...I ssshould at leassst let them know I remarried. I....wasss my father'sss oldessst ssson."

"They should be glad to hear from you," Rowena said softly.

"Not likely."

"Well, they still should."

Salazar shrugged sharply, almost rapping Helga in the head. "Sssincce your friend iss going, I thought he could take a letter. I felt obligated to sssend one. There won't be a resssponsse."

Helga swayed slightly to the side to avoid being bumped, then wrapped her arm around her husband's waist.

Godric nodded. "I'm sure he'll be more than willing."

"No lossss if he isssn't," Salazar muttered under his breath. "Do I ssee carriagess now?"

Rowena stood on tiptoe, bracing a hand on Godric. "I do believe so. You have good eyes."

"Or desperate ones," Helga murmured. Then she stretched up as well and beamed excitedly. "Our first students!"

Salazar took his eyes off the approaching hint of carriages after a moment and stared down at his wife in astonishment. "Are you bouncing?"

"Yes," she replied, entirely unabashed. "I'm excited. Aren't you?"

"Not bouncccing exccited."

"But hissing excited," she countered, grinning. "That counts, for you, I think."

"I.... ssssssssssssuppossssssssssse it doesssssssss."

"Now you're just exaggerating." She tucked herself comfortably against him and stopped bouncing (mostly).

He leaned down and half-hissed in her ear, "You ussssually don't mind when I hisssss, my love."

She tilted her head back and turned it far enough to catch his earlobe lightly in passing. "Did I say I minded now?"

"Remind me to anssswer you properly when there aren't twenty children and their parentsss about to desscend upon uss."

"Believe me, my dearest, I will."

"I see we won't need to restock the kitchen with honey any time soon," Godric laughed, nudging Salazar's side. "Break it up, you two. They're here."

And indeed, a variety of carriages had arrived at the gates, conscripted to bring the students and their families in from the nearest village, however they'd arrived there. Children were boiling out, seeming like three times their number as voices raised in excitement.

"We're here, we're here, we're here!" one small person was caroling shrilly as she jumped up and down; she caught sight of her teachers and swallowed the next shout, planting both feet decorously on the ground without the slightest notion that they were nearly as excited to see her.

"They're here, they're here, they're here," Helga murmured behind her gently welcoming smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" she called out loudly enough for everyone to hear. "If you'll leave your things in the carriages, they'll be taken to your new rooms for you. I'm Professor Hufflepuff, and I'm very glad to see you all at last! Please follow Professor Gryffindor into the Great Hall so we can get everyone sorted out."

Godric waved helpfully to identify himself and was accordingly followed. "I like that little one," Helga whispered to Salazar as they made their way in with the flood. "I wish I knew whose she was." They could recognize very few of their students by sight at this point, though one or two bore a distinct resemblance to well-known magical families.

"Ssomeone that inordinately cheerful can only be yourss, love," he whispered back, nodding companionably to the parents and escorts while attempting to look like some sort of authority figure. It was a strange new role.

Helga grinned, but their arrival in the Great Hall was signified by the students' (and parents') awed whispering over the enchanted ceiling. Rowena was beaming as always at the reaction to her work. The four professors made their way to the front of the room, Helga standing a little ways in front in her role as welcomer and spokeswitch. She let the whispers die down a little before speaking again.

"There now. This is much better." The acoustics in the Great Hall made it easy for every last student to hear her from this position, thus eliminating the need for shouting or Sonorus Charms. She clapped her hands together excitedly. "We're all so glad you're here. As I said, I am Helga Hufflepuff. I'll be teaching transfiguration and healing. This is my husband, Salazar Slytherin, Potions master; Godric Gryffindor, whom you already met, Charms Professor, and his wife Rowena Ravenclaw, who will be teaching Advanced Spellwork."

Each Founder waved a little in turn to identify him- or herself. There were a few excited whispers around the hall, but everyone was staying remarkably calm. "You will all be socializing together, but you've been divided into Houses for taking classes and assigning dormitory space. Professor Ravenclaw has the list of House divisions."

Helga stepped back and waved a little at Rowena to take over. "You will all see that we have four banners up," Rowena announced pleasantly. "Mine is blue; Professor Gryffindor's is red; Professor Slytherin's is serpent-green...." She turned and grinned at him. "And Professor Hufflepuff's is yellow. We've arranged things so that we will each be supervising the students we felt most suited to, so please go and stand by your banner as we call out your name and House." She began the list.

Helga managed to remain impassive when she saw the overeager girl she liked was indeed a member of Hufflepuff, though she rocked a bit on her toes and exchanged a quick glance with Salazar, who looked warmly amused. It didn't take long to go through the short list and soon the students were greeting their fellow Housemates eagerly. "There aren't many of you to start off with," Helga took up the narration again, "but we'll be adding more each year, of course, so you'll soon have other students to welcome. Your Head of House will be the professor you deal with the most often. If you have any personal problems or simply wish to talk, please feel free to speak with your Head. The other professors will, of course, also be glad to help."

She looked back at the other founders, running out of steam, so Salazar stepped up smoothly to fill in the gaps. "Classsess will begin in the morning. We'll sstart with ssome initial tesstss to get an idea of what kind of knowledge you have already and continue on accordingly. Professsor Ravenclaw will be teaching the more advancced ssubjectss for thosse with sspecial interesstss or abilitiesssss." He drew out the hiss on the last word and grinned. "Or whomever iss mosst qualified, of coursse."

"Nobody told me they got a Parselmouth professor," one of the boys whispered a little too loudly to his neighbor. "And he's not even the healer!"

Helga looked at her husband and grinned.

"All Hogwartss professsorss have sspecial sskillss," Salazar continued modestly. "And we wissh to develop yourss, sso pleasse work diligently in classs and assk uss any quesstionss you may have."

This was met with a surprising amount of cheering; a few students, probably unfamiliar with the talent, looked confused or a little unnerved, but one of the older girls in Godric's group gave a rousing and (to Salazar) intelligible hiss.

"And for some reason they've given me the most enjoyable part of the announcements," Godric added as Salazar glanced toward him and yielded the floor, "which is to tell you that we'll show you where you'll be sleeping, and then bring you back here for dinner once you've had a chance to look around."

Godric got an even louder cheer than Salazar had, but food was generally more important to eleven to thirteen year olds than studying, no matter how interesting the topics. Salazar gave Godric a mock-glare as they separated to take their own students to the dormitories they'd personally designed and muttered good-naturedly, "I can't believe you got the Parsselmouth."

"Her father's a Muggle," Godric returned good-humoredly, "so you didn't pay enough attention. You'll be seeing enough of her, though, I'd imagine."

The two men split to reach their groups under the red and green banners at opposite ends, with the women walking down the middle. Helga herded her lot of very enthusiastic children out of the Hall and down the corridors, cheerfully fielding questions and listening to the children's exclamations about the different features of the castle as she led them towards the cozy burrow she'd designed for her young badgers.

The young girl she'd noticed out front was just as enthusiastic now as she was then, chattering excitedly to her four Housemates and Helga without seeming to take a breath in between her words. "--And I've never been in a magic house before. There were some magical families in my village, but we didn't get to talk to them very much and one of them hardly talks to anybody anymore because one of the boys got turned into a werewolf and killed his wife and then ran off before they could kill him and I've never met a werewolf but you don't think there'd be any around here...."

By Helga's Healer's reckoning, the poor thing should have passed out from lack of air three corridors ago. That might have been an improvement, actually, she reflected, if she was going to be going on about werewolves....

"Where are you from?" one of the other girls asked a bit breathlessly.

"South of here -- well, that's most places I suppose. Chester."

Helga did not stop walking, but she thought something very inappropriate. "I've done healing for werewolves before," she said quietly over her shoulder. Not for very long, for the few she'd met before Salazar; they'd all moved on. "Most of them were very nice people, all but the one night each month."

The girls looked up with wide, awed eyes. "You've healed werewolves?" the second girl squeaked. "But aren't they scary? Weren't you afraid they'd bite you?"

"I've been in more danger from fever-patients. Except when the full moon is in the sky and they're transformed, no, they really aren't especially scary."

"I'd be scared if I met one," the girl said stoutly. "You must be really brave."

~Oh little one,~ Helga thought sadly, ~how little you know.~ "Not very brave. Just sensible."

"I thought sensible people stayed away from them."

"Only during the full moon. They're not dangerous any other time, I promise you. In fact, it's more sensible to stay around them the rest of the time so you can make certain they're confined somewhere they can't do damage during the full moon."

"But how can you? I mean... can't they chew through walls?"

Helga thought back to Salazar's bloody hands and mouth after he tried just that every full moon. "No," she answered quietly, "they can't. Good, solid stone will hold them as well as you or I. Better, actually, since even the wizard ones can't wield magic while they're transformed. Remember that werewolves become the way they are through accident, not intent, and most of them are more horrified of themselves than we could possibly be."

This was met with a long moment of silence before the girl said quietly, "Professor Hufflepuff, most of the people I know don't have stone walls."

Helga blinked. "Oh. Of course. Well, that takes a bit more ingenuity, but there are ways to keep a werewolf from harming anyone during their transformation. There are caves, or chaining them down -- strong enough metal would work, or silver, of course -- or even sending them off to an unpopulated area once a month. Whenever we've run into werewolves, it's been in the Forest, because it's so far from any villages. Which is one reason we don't want any of you children going there, incidentally," she added sternly.

"Yes, ma'am."

Helga tried not to sigh to herself. She was going to have to tell Salazar where the girl was from. At least she hadn't recognized his name -- 'Salazar' was after all a rather unusual one.

Well. Perhaps they'd do well to add a few courses in defending oneself from some of the more dangerous magical creatures, and perhaps from some of the more common curses and jinxes too. They could correct common misapprehensions like this one, and help insure the safety of their students while they were at it. Maybe Rowena could take it on...

She tucked that thought away for further consideration and showed the students how to convince the enchanted suit of armor to let them inside the new dormitory. They'd all laughed at first when Godric hung a portrait of some woman in pink in front of the entrance to his House, but he'd just grinned and bowed to the portrait. "If my lady will show my colleagues your secrets..." The woman in the portrait had giggled and swung her frame away. Godric explained that he thought sharing a password to get in would make the House dorm feel more like a secret home and help the students bond together. The other three had taken up his suggestion enthusiastically and modified their own entrances to suit. Seeing her students reactions, Helga thought Godric had pegged it nicely.

They spent several delighted moments exploring the sett-style dormitory and, in one or two cases, bouncing on the beds. Helga rounded them up again after they'd had time to start feeling comfortable and steered them back up to the Great Hall, where food had been set out.

The four of them ate together, though where they could keep an eye on their students, and Rowena cast a light charm around their table so that the excellent acoustics would not broadcast attempts at private conversation, though a deliberate call to the students would still be possible if discipline or warning were needed.

"We nearly lost Rowena's group," Godric informed them cheerfully. "She would take them by the library."

"Excuse me for thinking the library is a good thing to show students," she sniffed with teasing hauteur.

"It is, just not while we're expecting to see them again sometime before next week," he shot back.

"Mine liked the common room," Salazar reported with a certain amount of relief. He hadn't been quite sure how to design for children and so just designed for himself instead. There'd been liberal amounts of green, but unlike the other three dormitories, his bore only small traces of the second House color. His friends had looked at him slightly askance when he'd decided on green and silver to represent Slytherin House, but he'd chosen it for a certain amount of healthy irony... and just in case anyone got to close to discovering his secret. Who would think the werewolf had silver as one of his signature colors? "And they sseemed very eager about sstarting classsess."

Helga shot her husband a proud if slightly distracted smile. "Ah, did your group ever actually reach the dormitory, Rowena?"

"...Briefly."

"You sshould jusst put a library inside your Housse and that would ssolve the problem."

Rowena blushed a bit and changed the subject hurriedly. "So what did your students think, Godric?"

"They seemed to enjoy it -- a couple of them ended up playing with the spiral staircase, and Sarah wants to talk to you, Salazar...."

"The Parsselmouth girl? Excccellent." Salazar grinned like a schoolboy himself for a moment. "I sstill can't believe we got a Parsselmouth in the firsst batch. Esspecially without me even knowing. They're sso rare."

"She's practically ecstatic about the idea of meeting another one." Godric nodded to Helga. "And how are yours?"

"Enthusiastic." She smiled.

"They looked a little more subdued when you came back, or a couple did. So do you, for that matter."

"Mmm. ...It turns out that one of my girls is from near where Salazar's family lives."

Salazar choked on a bite of meat and coughed for a moment to dislodge it. When he could speak again, it was with a much more pronounced hiss than usual. "I ssssupposssse ssshe'sss going home, then. I'm ssssso ssssorry, love. How did the other ssstudentsss react?"

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Ah.... Actually she doesn't seem to have identified you specifically, though she... has heard the story, or a version of it. I spent much of the walk explaining -- in general terms -- why one shouldn't fear a werewolf outside the full moon."

"Ssshe doesssn't know it wasss me?" Salazar let out a slow breath. "Thank God for that, then. I didn't want to cossst you sstudentsss ssso sssoon." Part of him wondered just want "version" of the story the girl had told, but the rest of him said morosely he probably didn't want to know.

"No. Though... it occurs to me it may be on her mind, if no one else's, around the next full moon." She wrapped her hand around his wrist. "I will speak to her, if need be. And at any rate, however it goes, you are not to blame."

He gave a low hiss of assent, though his good mood was somewhat spoiled by the news. "It'ss already going to be difficult explaining why I jusst happen to get ssick every full moon." He sighed. "I need to sstart healing more quickly."

"...I am doing my best. I'm sorry to have had to bring it up...."

"It'ss not your fault," he assured her, bringing her hand up to kiss lightly. "And it'ss besst that I know." He wrinkled his nose. "I jusst hope sshe doessn't make the connection between the local werewolf and the local Parssselmouth."

"She may not have been aware of the latter back home; she did mention that she'd had little contact with most of the magical families there."

"I live in hope," Salazar muttered.

"It'll be fine, Sal," Godric said bracingly. "By the time the full moon comes, she'll just be thinking of you as the nasty Potions master who sets far too much homework. She'll probably think you just locked yourself in your laboratory again for a few days to work on a delicate potion."

"Thank you, there's a handy excuse."

"Considering you probably won't be able to resist actually doing so once in a while..."

"As if you two don't do the ssame thing occasssionally. Helga iss the only sssane one among uss, apparently. What a thought."

"Well, I have to be available in case one of you three manages to injure yourself...."

"One of us twenty-three now, Helga," Rowena countered with a grin, waving a hand at the happily eating and chattering students. "And if you think we're bad now, that's nothing to what we were like at age twelve."

"Oh dear. And you'll probably just encourage them."

"I will be an excellent professor. I believe it is our dear husbands you should worry about."

"Rowena, I have heard the sort of questions you ask. And then try to answer."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she retorted demurely. "Ahem. It appears everyone is nearly finished, judging by the noise level in here."

"You are changing the subject. But I suppose it is about time to move along."

"What's wrong with that, as long as it's true?" Rowena asked with a grin. "I thought perhaps we should spend some time in our common rooms answering questions and clarifying the rules this evening, then retire early and let them finish getting settled without their old professors hovering over their shoulders."

"I'm not a crone yet," Helga said with a grin; this drew a laugh from Salazar, as she'd hoped. "Still, a good idea. Shall we?"

They collected their respective students and took them to the dormitories again, spending a while there and then, finally, joining each other and -- having spent several days past in preparations -- deciding to enjoy a nearly free evening.

"Never have I heard 'why' assked in sso many wayss, not even from Godric and Rowena," Salazar complained good-naturedly, sitting with Helga curled up beside him and rubbing her neck until she purred like a contented cat. "I thought that was generally grown out of by thiss age."

"Why for the sake of why is," Rowena answered serenely, "but curiosity by brand-new students is expected and welcome, no matter what their age. And I took no offense, if you were worried."

Salazar grinned. "I wasssn't."

"You never are," she replied fondly. "And rightly so. Helga, one of mine is asking about Animagi; I haven't studied that in any more depth than the definition, really -- have you?"

"Only a little. I know some of the theory, but I couldn't even begin to do it. I think we have some books in the library about it, though. Let me know who it is and I'll talk with her. It really shouldn't be attempted until they have a good many more years behind them, of course."

"Maeve. She should do well in basic transfiguration, at any rate; it seems to be something her family's started her in. Oh, and she wants to know if she can help with the gardens."

"I think I can make room for some help," Godric replied. "I was hoping that wouldn't have to become punishment just to get enough help!" He grinned and rubbed his hands together. "We're finally doing this!"

The rest of them beamed, though Salazar's smile was a little more restrained than the rest. He was the one to answer, though. "Yessss. And -- mossstly -- off to a good sssstart, it appearss."

"Don't worry about Meghan, Salazar," Helga admonished, squirming a little closer to him. "I'm sure it won't be any trouble. She seemed like a perfectly nice girl after dinner, and she didn't say anything else about werewolves. You worry too much."

"It'sss not that I'd blame her...."

Helga sighed and rested her head against his neck. "I know."

He pressed his lips against her hair with a wordless hiss.

"If it's a problem, it is, but don't go borrowing trouble when we have enough here already," Godric chided. "Tomorrow we get to start teaching eleven year olds how to use magic. They'll be floating down the corridors with blue hair and pig snouts for noses before long. Worry about that."

"...That'ss either a very optimisstic asssesssment of the training or a very pesssimisstic one, and I can't deccide which."

"I bet I can teach them how to float each other before you can teach them how to brew a hair color potion," Godric retorted challengingly.

"No doubt, as that'ss not exactly one of my prioritiesss."

"You're no fun."

"As much as I endeavor to be your amussement in life..."

"I think you're fun," Helga told him.

He grinned at her and hissed playfully. "I'd hope so."

"And to think Helga used to tease us...."

"Used to?"

"Well, you still do, but not nearly as much." Rowena winked at her. "I think being an old married woman has mellowed you."

"Well, you're not quite as much fun to tease when you aren't trying to be ambiguous."

"Bessidess, we're ssuppossed to be the adults now," Salazar interjected wryly. "Twenty children calling uss 'professsor' ring a bell with anyone?"

"That's no reason to lose our sense of humor," Godric replied. "Recipe for disaster, that..."

"No, but sshowing ssome ssemblancce of maturity would not be amisss." Salazar paused, then grinned. "Only ssome. In public."

"And then when some of our students eventually teach here as well, we can surprise them by how we act among ourselves," Rowena suggested mischievously.

Salazar hissed with laughter. "Yess, preccissely. And issn't that the grandesst joke of all?"

"As long as it doesn't scare them too badly, of course." Helga grinned and shot Godric a look, expecting protests.

"If they scare too badly from that, they obviously weren't any of my students," he retorted.

"I don't know, discovering an entirely new aspect to one's professors' personalities..."

"Excellent topic for investigation," Rowena suggested. "Prepare to be observed."

Godric smiled at her fondly, but Salazar and Helga covered laughter. "And you accusse me of getting too involved in my experimentss."

"I have always been too involved in my experiments."

Salazar could hardly dispute this truth, so he just shrugged and smiled. "At any rate, it will be ssome time before any of our sstudentss are old enough -- to sspeak nothing of willing -- to join sstaff. Sso you will jusst have to wait to conduct your experiment."

"Patience, as Helga reminds me frequently, is a virtue."

"Then be patient," Salazar advised with a wink, leaning his head against Helga's contentedly. "We have all the time in the world."

*****