Foundation

Chapter Two

"Godric! That chair most certainly does not go there!" Helga shrieked, her face red with livid anger.

The said man whirled around to look at the beautiful blonde standing in the doorway.

"It doesn't?" he asked, a very confused expression on his dark featured face.

"NO!" she screamed, quite a bit louder than before.

Godric immediately lowered his wand, which resulting in a large crash and the sound of wood splintering on a tough stone floor.

If it was possible, Helga's face got much redder, her blue eyes flashing quite dangerously at Godric.

"Oh no," he groaned, and immediately his hands went up in front of him in an innocent gesture.

"I'm sorry! You asked if I could help and then--"

Helga screamed. Loudly.

"I ASKED YOU TO HELP ME CONJURE THE FURNITURE, NOT PLACE IT!"

Godric winced. She really did have a temper, that Helga Hufflepuff.

He slowly stepped away from her, his wand grasped tightly in one hand--in case she attacked--and the other held up in front of him.

"I'll just...be leaving, now..." he whispered, trying to calm her down a bit.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! You will stay in right where you are, Mister."

Godric stopped dead in his tracks. He knew from being close friends with this woman for four years that when she started whispering it meant bad things. Very, very, bad things.

She started advancing on him.

"Oh...for goodness sake!" He disappeared with a loud pop and appeared by the large front doors of the school.

He stood at the bottom of the marble flight of steps, looking up at the incredibly tall wooden doors that they had adorned their beloved school with.

"Three, two, one..." he muttered, and right on cue he heard a shriek that could have reminded anyone of a banshee.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He jumped quite high before whirling around to meet his other best female friend, Rowena Ravenclaw.

"Problem, Godric? I know I did a spectacular job with those doors, but I should think you'd seen enough of them by now to know what they looked like." Her gray eyes twinkled merrily up at him.

She was wearing her usual colors of blue and bronze, though today she had some yellow mixed in as well. She had her wide skirts on--something she didn't like to wear but did for Helga's sake--and a tight corset that slimmed her already small waist considerably.

Godric, who was standing a few steps above her, had a very nice view of the skin revealed by her low-cut dress. But before he could cast a seemingly innocent eye in that direction she had pulled a book from behind her back and held it excitedly in front of her.

"Look! I found this book on window charms in the library." She shoved the book into his chest and smiled brightly.

"Ah, yes, I will be sure to look over this tonight."

Rowena, who knew very little about windows (them being a new invention), was certain that their school needed them: with glass, with panes, and with all the charms that went along with breakable objects.

"You better! Now, where's Salazar?" she asked, peering curiously over his shoulder.

"I really don't know," he told her, grimacing apologetically.

"I'll find him, no worries." She made to push past him, but Godric moved to that he was standing in front of her. He shook his head.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

Rowena laughed. "Having another fit, is she?"

Godric nodded. The scared look in his eyes did not go unnoticed by the smart witch.

She grinned. "Honestly, Godric! Scared of a girl, are you?" she teased.

Godric nodded furiously, not trusting himself to speak lest he say something bad about Helga.

Rowena sniggered. "I've dealt with her a few more years than you; I'll deal with it this time, alright?"

Godric heaved a relieved sigh.

* * *

Rowena watched as Godric made his way back into the school, no doubt heading off to work on some obscure section that Helga wouldn't come to for at least a month. She shivered. The girl did have a horrid temper. Rowena took a few hesitant steps up the marble stairs that led to Hogwarts. It would be more beneficial if she walked, that way Helga would have time to at least calm down before Rowena came in.

She began the slow ascent to the sixth floor of the school. It would be dangerous to surprise her, so just slowly coming in and making sure that Helga knew she was there would be the best idea.

Rowena looked around her as she walked. It was coming together quite beautifully. The school was made of a stone taken from a nearby quarry, put together entirely by magic, and was soon to be home of a very expansive, up to date Quidditch Pitch.

Rowena ducked behind a tapestry and began walking through a dark stone hallway. She had put this secret passage in herself and doubted if Godric--or any of the others, for that matter--knew about it. It led straight to the dormitories she had built herself, which were on the fifth floor.

Needless to say, the stairs were enchanted. There was a patch of seventeen steps that disappeared at random so that a student who happened to discover the passage would not be encouraged to use it again. Rowena, having built it herself, knew exactly which steps were which and levitated over them.

Taking a step onto firm ground, Rowena peered out from behind the statue. It was a statue of a brilliant unicorn, but the back was hollow so that she could neatly fit inside it and look about to see if it was clear to come out.

She wasn't sure when she was going to tell Salazar, Helga, and Godric about it. It was her little secret, and she was quite sure the other three had their own secret passage ways that they, in turn, had not informed her of.

When she saw that no one was coming Rowena stepped out and smoothed out her dress. Just one more flight of stairs and she would be there. She shivered despite herself and started walking with subdued steps.

As she made her way up another floor Rowena took the liberty of peeking into various classrooms that Helga had recently furnished. The blonde did do an excellent job, but she had done it all by herself. Needless to say she had not allowed anyone else the privilege of placing the furniture. Rowena was quite happy about that, but Godric (who she thought may fancy Helga) was always spending time with the vivacious blonde and often got himself into trouble by trying to place furniture without Helga's approval.

Usually it was Rowena who helped him escape and make up with Helga, but she had decided already--on her way past a particularly beautiful lounge room--that this would be the last time she rescued Godric. If he was going to continue to get himself into trouble, she could not always be the one to bail him out.

"Men," she muttered as she approached the flight of twisting stairs that would lead her to her best friend. She took a deep breath and put her foot on the bottom step.

Her blue slip shoes were quite comfortable, and the reason she stopped was not because her feet were bothering her.

Rowena was nervous. Usually she could handle anything Helga dished out, but she had heard the frustrated scream. It had been a little of cue, which made Rowena wonder if perhaps Helga was a little more upset than usual.

Rowena took another step and put her right foot next to the left. She grasped the smooth oak railing with both hands, a grimace coming to her usually up-beat expression. Did she really want to subject herself to Helga's yelling? She had said that she would do it, and Rowena Ravenclaw was a woman of her word.

She took a deep breath and tucked her wavy brown hair behind her ears. She was wearing crystal earrings that hung down about halfway down her neck, and as she tucked her hair behind her ears one of the strands got caught in the fastening of the earring.

Scowling, she took a few moments to pry it out. In the time it took her to do so, Salazar had arrived next to her.

But the hair was being stubborn and she couldn't get it out. Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me help you with that."

Rowena recognized Salazar's voice immediately. The two had spent a lot of time together recently. She was beginning to think she might see him as more than a friend.

As his hands came up to wrestle her coarse hair out of her earring, she smiled.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in ages," she asked, trying to catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of her gray eyes.

"I'm doing just fine. I heard Helga though, and thought you might want some support."

Rowena sighed. "No...I think I should do this myself. She responds much better to me, I think."

She heard Salazar chuckle. "That makes sense. Ah, there we go."

Rowena felt the strand of hair fall back into place as he released it, but he himself seemed reluctant to step away.

He put a hand on her shoulder and slowly brought her around to face him.

Rowena was tall for a woman, but Salazar was taller. She was standing on the first step of the stairs, him on the floor, and this actually made them equal height.

His hair was clean and cut short. She gasped, the last time she had seem him it had been long!

He smiled, his dark eyes twinkling across the few-inch gap that separated them. She reached up to rub his hair, something she had taken to doing. It was so soft! She wasn't used to it being so soft, and he looked handsome! She wasn't used to him being handsome.

As she rubbed his dark hair, she noticed he now had both hands on her shoulders. She took her hand away.

"Salazar? What--"

But her words were cut off when Salazar's lips met hers.

She definitely hadn't been expecting that and pulled away. Salazar looked hurt.

"I thought..."

Rowena looked at him. Really, looked at him. Did she want to be in a relationship with this man? She did like him quite a lot. She'd have to do some research and...

She turned and fled up the stairs, ignoring Salazar's call for her to come back.

Her heart was beating furiously as she arrived at the top of the stairs. She peered down to see if Salazar was still standing there, and in fact he was. He had a hurt and confused expression on his normally placid face, which was something Rowena never thought she would see.

What had she done? Obviously he fancied her too! She had wanted that kiss. Why had she pulled away?

She took a moment to calm herself and slow her beating heart, which proved impossible. A thoughtful hand came to her lips as she remembered what had happened. Had he purposefully came up there to do that?

"I definitely need to talk to Helga..." she muttered as she set off down the hallway towards the only open door.

She was sure to make a lot of noise as she came down the hall so that Helga would know she was there.

She started singing, loudly, in hopes to cheer her friend up. Rowena had an awful voice and Helga enjoyed laughing with her about it.

She could hear what sounded like muffled sobs over her singing, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next.

Helga was sitting on the carpeted floor with bright tears pouring down her cheeks. A splintered chair sat in front of her and the light from the windows cast an evening shadow on the room, making Helga's hair and bright yellow outfit glow with a sort of unnatural light.

"Helga!" Rowena cried, and she rushed to her friend to try and comfort her. "What's wrong?"

"He...he broke the chair!" she sobbed, and burst into a fresh wave of tears, her normally beautiful face scrunched up in a frustrated and hurt expression.

Rowena tried not to look exasperated. It was a chair! They were witches, for cripes sake! She pulled out her wand--ten inches, willow, unicorn hair--and pointed it at the chair.

She muttered a quick, advanced spell that caused the chair to heave itself off the floor with a great creak and repair itself in midair before landing once more in front of Helga.

Helga looked up and gave another sob. "It's still not in the right place! He tried to put it in the corner, Rowena! The corner!"

Rowena kneeled and took a few seconds to settle her skirts before rubbing her friends back.

"It's alright, Helga. Where do you want it, in the middle of the room? Near the door? Just tell me and I'll do it for you."

Helga looked up with a sniff. She managed a small smile before pointing to a spot underneath the window where the sun would hit the chair with full force.

Rowena flicked her wand at the great chair and moved it to the said spot. It sat there, with its maple finish and yellow cushions, looking as though that had been were it belonged the whole time.

Rowena looked back at Helga, who was wiping her sleeve.

"Thanks, Rowena. You're such a great friend!" she said, throwing her arms around the startled Rowena.

But, being the quick thinker that she was, she quickly returned the hug and patted Helga's back until the younger girl had recovered.

"Better now?" Rowena asked, conjuring a handkerchief.

Helga nodded and dabbed her eyes with the corner of the silk square Rowena had handed her.

When the beautiful blonde had recovered the two got to talking.

"So, Rowena, I can tell that there's something you want to tell me. What is it?" Helga asked, sitting down in the newly repaired chair and beaming at her friend.

Rowena made a face between a grimace and a smile as she sat in another yellow chair across the room.

It had never been easy for her to share her feelings. Helga had no problem with it and was always talking about some male or other, but this time it was Rowena who had something to say...but how should she say it?

Rowena turned in her chair to look out the window at the glistening lake below. The giant squid, since its discovery, had been showing himself much more and was basking at the surface of the water. The morning sun was just rising over the mountains in the distance, giving the whole valley a sort of surreal look.

There was a cloud that looked like a dragon and--

"Rowena, spill it."

Rowena sighed. She knew eventually Helga would worm it out of her.

"Alright..." She looked over at her friend, who was gazing at her intently. "Salazarkissedme," she mumbled.

There was a great, exasperated sigh from Helga's side of the room, and soon enough the young blonde was coming over to kneel in front of Rowena.

"Come now. We've been friends for seventeen years, Rowena! You know I can't understand you when you mumble like that." Helga looked up at her with blue eyes. "Just tell me and get it over with."

Rowena looked down at her. "Oh alright! Salazar kissed me."

Helga stood up with an excited leap. "Really? Oh, Rowena that's wonderful!" But seeing the look on her friend's face Helga went back to her kneeling position.

"That is wonderful, isn't it?"

"Well..."

Helga went back to her fluffy yellow chair. "Alright, Rowena. I can tell you need to talk about this, whether you want to or not. Come now, tell me what happened." She waited expectantly.

Rowena looked down at her hands, which were folded neatly together in her lap. Did she really feel like talking about this? It had been enough of a surprise when it had happened. But then...Helga was still sitting there looking at her.

"I was coming up the stairs to talk to you, and he just came over and kissed me," she said. "I...I still don't..."

Helga nodded. "That's a start. Now, what did you do after he kissed you? Did you kiss back or run away?"

Rowena knew Helga already knew the answer to that. "I ran away," she muttered.

"Understandable. You were surprised and probably not yet ready to face your feelings for him."

It wasn't unusual for Helga to give Rowena advice like this. The blonde knew much more about men than Rowena could ever learn from books.

Helga looked at her. "So what are your feelings for him?" she asked softly, a question that Rowena had known was coming.

She looked over at the fireplace so as not to meet her friend's gaze. "I think I might love him."

"I think I agree. Rowena, Godric and I have both noticed. You two look at each other like there's no one else in the world," she said kindly. She rose once again from her chair and came over to pull Rowena gently to her feet.

"Really?" Rowena seriously doubted that it was that obvious, but Helga did know what she was talking about.

Helga nodded. "I'm guessing you're going to go to the library to research about this? Rowena, you and I both know there won't be anything there. You're going to have to face him soon enough."

Helga had always been very good about saying something like this and not making it seem cruel. Rowena liked that about her friend, it made it very easy to talk to her about things.

"Come, there's a room on the seventh floor that I was going to work on next. Would you like to help?"

Rowena nodded meekly and smiled at her friend. She would have to be careful or she would get yelled at, but it would be worth spending time with her.

* * *

What had he done wrong? He had thought that she wanted to be with him. But the kiss...

Salazar had just moved from under the stairs and was making his way towards the Quidditch pitch, where Godric was working on the stands. He and Rowena had been spending so much time together, and she had recently started flirting with him quite a lot. Why had she run up the stairs when he kissed her?

He shook his head and pushed open the front doors of the school. He had been thinking about telling Godric what had happened but decided against it. If he and Rowena became involved he would obviously tell Helga and Godric, but if not it wasn't worth saying anything about. The school was scheduled to begin its first term that fall and there was still a lot of work to do. For instance, the four had yet to decide who they would teach, what age group, and how they would inform the students that they had been selected. Of course, they had already been sending out messages to families that they knew were magical and had received great interest from the parents: a good sign.

But Salazar didn't like the idea of teaching anyone other than those who were from pureblood families. How would they know if there was someone with magical powers who wasn't from a magical family? It wouldn't be possible.

As he strode across the velvety lawn towards Godric--who was standing in the middle singing quite loudly with his wand outstretched--Salazar decided to have a talk with the other founders that night. They would need to discuss this.

* * *

Godric sat down on the bed up in the shack and took a look around. The others would be there soon--in fact he had thought that he was late--and they were to discuss the students of their new school.

Salazar had called for a meeting, so the others were congregating to talk.

Salazar had made no secret of the fact that he wanted only Pure Bloods to be taught at the school, but the other three definitely were against that. There had to be some way they could compromise!

Helga came in just as Godric was kicking off his shoes and gave him a bright smile that lit up her whole face.

She really was very pretty, and despite himself Godric couldn't help but to sneak a glance at her low cut dress.

But just as he was about to Rowena and Salazar walked in. The two of them had a habit of coming in at the wrong moments, something that both he and Helga had noticed.

"Shall we get down to business then? I think the first thing that we should discuss is our choice of students. As you all know, I am all for the only Pure-Blood rule. What do you think?" Salazar looked around at the other faces staring at him.

Rowena spoke up first. "Salazar...perhaps we should compromise..."

Godric had been waiting for that. It seemed that the two girls had the same idea as him.

He could tell that Salazar had put up an immediate guard. "Talk." He gestured with one hand and crossed his arms over his green-clad chest.

"Well here's what I was thinking," Rowena started. "We could have different Houses. That way we could each accept the students that we wanted to into our own house. They would have classes together; eat meals with each other at the same table, and even be in the same dorm rooms. What do you think?"

Godric was stunned. That was a very brilliant idea! "I like that idea, Rowena. It seems practical."

Helga nodded and the three turned to look at Salazar, who had a thoughtful expression on his face. Suddenly he looked over at Godric.

"I still don't think we should allow anyone but Pure-Bloods, but since you three seem so set on it I suppose there isn't any way I can change your minds. The rooms that I put in the dungeons will belong to my House."

The other three immediately agreed to this. It was really a miracle that he had agreed so readily in the first place. Salazar didn't usually relent so easily.

Helga piped up. "The ones on the third floor will be mine. Godric, there is a tower section that I think you might like, and Rowena, would the one on the fifth floor suit you?"

Godric and Rowena nodded. Godric had actually been hoping that they would let him have those rooms; he was rather fond of the large windows and cozy furnishings.

Rowena cleared her throat. "So...what should we call these houses? I had been thinking our last names..."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, and that way once we're gone and others have taken over the rule of the school our legacy will still live on!" Godric struck a noble pose that made the others laugh. He was the only one sitting on the bed--the other three were at the little table--so he fell back in mock embarrassment.

"My house symbol will be a snake," Salazar stated. It was said quite calmly, but the others knew that he wouldn't put up with anything from the others. He was dead set in his ways.

"Mine a lion!" Godric roared.

Helga seemed to be thinking quite hard. "Perhaps a badger?" she whispered, and Rowena smiled encouragingly at her young friend.

"I should think an eagle would do just fine for me."

The others nodded and fell into silence. Godric was eager to head off to bed, so he immediately said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well...my house shall be home to the brave and kind," Godric said, thinking about the reason that they had made these houses in the first place.

The others looked startled that he had said that so fast, but they too, seemed to have been thinking about that quite a bit.

"Mine, preferably Pure-Blood and they must be cunning. I suppose they don't all have to be Pure Blood, but I would definitely like it more that way."

"I shall take the smart!" Rowena said, and that was greeted with much enthusiasm.

Godric was still thinking about the odd way in which the four of them came up with ideas, however. It never took them long to make decisions together, and there was generally acceptance of anything that the other--or others--wanted to do. It had only taken them a few moments to come up with the name of the school.

But Rowena and Salazar were looking over at Helga, so Godric did so as well. She looked quite uncomfortable under all of their stares, so eventually she blurted out, "I'll take all the others!"

Rowena smiled at that statement. It seemed just like Helga to say that sort of thing.

But then there was the question of how, in fact, they were going to sort the students into each house. It would take much to long for them to go through individually to sort them.

"Any ideas?" Helga asked, but the others just had blank looks.

But suddenly, Godric had an idea. He reached up and pulled off his black wizarding hat.

He reached for his wand, which was sitting on the table, and pointed it at the hat. There was a bright flash of blue light, and when they could all see again there was a rip in the seem along the edge of the hat.

"I am the Sorting Hat!"