Tale of a Time Long Gone

A/N: Well! First of all, as usual - a big thank you to all those who reviewed! And now, this is a rather slow chapter, I must admit - not much happening, but it does lead to more action-packed chapters - so stay tuned!

That said, here is the usual thank you to Mina, who has done a wonderful job as always!

Thanks, Mina!

In this chapter: Godric and Rowena get a little more action, everyone stick their noses into everyone's romantic affairs, Cerdiwen takes over business and Godric's being completely oblivious.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12 - A Year of Schooling

"Lord Ambrosius was not one to let an insult go by unanswered. When the Founders had defied him, shaming and weakening him, he had suffered ridicule from many in the high positions of the Wizarding World. The high pedestal on which he had been sitting ever since being elevated to the position of Chief Warlock was roughly shaken.

"Being a cunning, bright man, Ambrosius realized that his first mistake was binding Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor to the Council. He also realized that the only way to return all power to his grasp is to terminate the four who had shown him to the world in his weakest state.

"Soon after the Founders' flight from Stonehenge Ambrosius sent forth more than half of the Chamber Guard. Their only duty was to kill the Founders on sight before they could cause further damage.

"To block Ambrosius attempts on their lives, the Founders formed an alliance with a variety of groups. Former Knights of the Phoenix, families of those killed because of the Council's inefficiency, members of societies hunted down by the Council - all those and others joined the four Founders of Hogwarts in their resistance.

"With this complicated network of allies and spies, the Founders were able to defend themselves and their newly built school..."

- Hogwarts, A History; Author unknown

Godric yawned, his eyelids drooping. It was late evening and he had been trying to teach two fifteen-year-olds the rudimentary rules of Phoenix lore most of the afternoon. The two, the twin sons of Sir Rhys, Berwyn and Goronwy, were cheerful enough lads, but they had the attention span of a fish.

Sir Rhys' four youngest children were the very first students they had, together with Dahlia's Warwick, Rhiannon and Shane. The seven children walked the few miles from the Loch to the ruins each morning, trained and studied from dawn to dusk and then returned home, usually accompanied by one of their teachers.

The four companions never went as far as the village - just close enough to make sure that the children would be all right.

In the few months that had passed since they had decided to name the ruins their home, the place transformed greatly.

Aided by Bran, Dahlia, Ceridwen and Rhys, they had completed the building of their small house. It was a comfortable, if somewhat crammed, lodging, big enough for them to have the seven children over almost every day.

"Why isn't he going to bed?" he heard someone asking softly.

Rowena. She must have returned from escorting the students back to the Loch.

"He claimed he wasn't tired," Helga replied just as softly.

Rowena snorted. "Not tired? He's falling asleep in his chair. I'll give him not tired."

And then, before he could so much as blink, he felt a hand clutching his shoulder and was roughly shaken.

"Come on, you big lump," Rowena said huffily. "Let's get you to bed."

She hoisted him up and pushed him in the direction of the room he shared with Salazar.

"And don't let me catch you out of bed before dawn!" she ordered.

Godric stumbled into his room and fell face-first on his bed. He was asleep almost before he hit it.

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Morning came only too early. The bright glare of sun's first rays made Godric blink furiously. On the other roughly-made bed, Salazar was still snoring. It was the women's day to teach, so they had a few more hours of laziness ahead of them before they had to go up to the ruins and go on rebuilding.

The task of rebuilding the fort was more tiring than they had expected, and the fact that winter only now let go of the land made their work slower than it should have been. Still, in the few weeks that had passed since spring came back with its bright thin showers, they had managed clearing all the rubble from the main entrance to the fort and already started constructing the front of the building.

They took it in turns to build. One day the men would build and the women teach, and the next it was the other way around.

Salazar had made the initial plans of the rebuilt fort. On his drawing board the ruins of Cormag's fort became almost a fairytale castle, with tall towers and waving flags, grand staircases and huge front doors.

However, Godric ruefully thought, plans aside and reality in front. The ruins still looked pretty much like a pile of old stones to him.

Almost reluctantly, he pulled himself out of bed. Someone had covered him during the night. It happened often these days.

From outside he heard children shrieking in delight. Apparently morning dawned clear, and the women had decided to teach outside.

"Salazar," he shook his friend awake. "Get up. It's time to get going."

When they were finally both up and awake, the two drifted to the kitchen where some good soul, most likely Helga, had left them a modest breakfast. Having nourished themselves, they picked up their wands and left for their morning's work.

"You know," Godric mused as he levitated a huge block of stone into place after applying a sticking charm to it, "I've been thinking. Is it just me, or are we always the ones stuck with the manual works? Correct me if I'm wrong, but when last the women worked on the castle, all they did was to mend the fractured flagstones and replace the ones that were beyond repair. How is it that we let them get away with it?"

"Quite simple," Salazar grunted, concentrating on the charm that will allow him to build an arch. "They're women. They wrap us around their little fingers and we follow willingly. I thought you knew that."

"Very funny," Godric said sourly and levitated another block.

Around noon, when Godric felt he was close to collapsing, beads of sweat dotting his face and bare torso, Helga, Rowena and the children came by with the lunch basket, and they all sat down amongst the fallen stones to eat.

"You're making good progress," said Helga earnestly, handing out salted ham. "I do believe that we will have the entrance chamber ready by the beginning of summer."

Godric groaned loudly. "That's too long," he whined. "My back and shoulders ache so much!"

"Oh, you big baby!" Rowena scolded. She put down her slice of bread and went to sit behind him and, much to everyone's surprise, started rubbing his back expertly.

"Aunt Helga?" Rhiannon asked timidly. "What is Aunt Rowena doing?"

Dahlia's daughter had taken to calling both women aunt, and being the only girl among the seven students, they let her get away with it.

Helga chuckled in a way that made Godric grow red in the face. "Well, Rhiannon," she said, "I do believe that she's voluntarily touching Godric. Are you feeling well, Raven?"

"Close your mouth, Helga," Rowena growled. "Don't fill the girl's head with nonsense."

"Of course, Raven. Whatever you say."

Godric was torn. On one hand, he could not shake the feeling that Rowena was doing this because of some perverted trick she planned, but on the other hand, he enjoyed her touch. Her rather small, delicate fingers left trails of fire down his back. He was not sure if this was quite healthy.

"There you go," she finally said after a little while, letting go. "Come, Helga, children. It's time to resume school."

As the small group left in the direction of the house, Godric's eyes followed them, focusing in particular on the auburn-haired woman leading. Behind him, he could practically hear Salazar's smirk.

"What do you want?" he demanded harshly, picking up his wand again.

"You like her, don't you?" his friend asked, his voice brimming with amusement.

"What is it with you all?" he asked angrily. "I don't like Rowena. She's annoying me. She's one of the most stubborn women I have ever met - and she hates me."

He hoped this would shut Salazar up. He had had enough trouble figuring out what Rowena was to him without Salazar and Helga putting ideas in his head.

And that was the problem, really. All the doubts and the uncertainty of the past few months only started when the two began suggesting that he may have feelings for her. Up until then he was quite sure of his dislike concerning her.

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"Where's Helga?" Salazar asked in concern one evening when he and Godric returned from the ruins after a day's hard work.

"Escorting the children back to the village," Rowena replied, giving him a peculiar glance from the kitchen's door.

"Oh," he said in relief. Then he added, "Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"What is it, Salazar? She's only been gone for half an hour. You know that she's perfectly safe as long as she keeps out of view and alert."

"I'm simply worried about her, that's all."

Worried, Salazar? Godric thought to himself. Why are you suddenly so concerned about Helga's safety?

In the past month or two, it seemed to him that there was a strange sort of understanding between his two companions. They would talk for hours on end over things that appeared to be quite insignificant. They would sit together during the evenings and were simply comfortable that way without even saying a word. He did not think that it was more serious than simple friendship, but perhaps...

Perhaps Salazar wanted it to be more serious? Godric really needed to talk with Rowena about it - hear what she thought of the matter.

The front door opened with a creak. He winced. They should have adjusted that door a long time ago. Helga entered the main room with a strangely thoughtful expression on her face.

"There's a new family in the Loch," she announced. "Rhiannon's been telling me. She speaks of little else. She had been telling me about them all afternoon long and did not stop until I left them at the Loch."

"Haven't you got anything better to do than gossiping?" Rowena demanded rather primly, though Godric could hear interest in her voice.

During the winter months, when they had nothing better to do on late evening but to talk and plan, he learned how to discern the underlining meaning in whatever she said. Rowena was perhaps one of the most fascinating people he had ever met. He could watch and listen to her for hours and not grow tired of what he saw and heard.

"Weren't you supposed to be teaching her how to read?" Rowena continued.

"I did!" Helga said defensively. "She's getting along nicely. But she's still a little girl - she can't concentrate for hours at a time like you can."

"I never used to have problems sitting-"

"Oh, stop it, Rowena," Godric said almost casually, preparing himself for her retort. "You're just as interested in this family as Helga is. So who are these people?"

"A man, his wife, and their three children," Helga hurried along before Rowena could snap back. "The eldest is seventeen, the next one is sixteen and the youngest is fourteen. Their arrival was much... unexpected, to say the least. When I tried to ask Shane about it on our way back to the village he said something that made me think."

"Oh?"

"He said that the one showing the family around was... your mother."

"My mother?" Godric was surprised. As far as he knew, his mother was not a very active member of the community. Not since his father's death, anyway.

"I know. I found it surprising as well. But there's something more."

"Yes?"

"Another two families are one the way - all with children."

Silence spread in the small house.

"We need to have a word with Ceridwen, Godric," Salazar finally said, putting down the book he picked up only moments before. "She's doing something out in the wide world, and as we're cut off from it..."

"You think she's planning something?"

"I would think it quite obvious," Salazar said with a smile. "I remember that your mother used to be very active in the days before your father's death. She was a prominent member of some of the highest circles of society, wasn't she? She used to organize many meetings for the wives of the Knights, as I recall. Perhaps she's stirring up trouble for our sake? She certainly has the connections. Either way, we must know."

"I'll go there tonight," Godric said. "Have a quiet word with her."

"Godric!" Rowena protested. "You can't! It's too dangerous! Why can't it wait 'til she comes here three days from now?"

He looked up at her, surprised. Were his ears deceiving him, or did he earnestly hear a note of concern in her voice?

"We haven't got the time, Rowena," Salazar came to his aid. "If Ceridwen's doing something, we had better know what it is as soon as we can."

"But what if he gets caught?" she demanded. "You know fully well that Ambrosius had given orders to kill us on sight!"

"I won't get caught-" Godric began, hurt that she thought him so irresponsible.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't, all right? I can't. But we must talk with my mother, and I am going. Whether you like it or not."

"You are a selfish bastard, Godric Gryffindor," she hissed angrily and stormed off, a worried Helga right behind her.

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"Mother! Let me in!" Godric hissed, knocking on Sir Rhys' door as softly as he could. Night had fallen, and he had sneaked to the Loch in order to have a quiet word with his mother.

"Mother! This is urgent!"

The door opened so quickly that he lost his footing and fell headfirst into the house. The door shut closed behind him as he pulled himself up gingerly.

"What kind of a fool are you, boy?" his mother hissed as she motioned Sion's wife, Lleulu, to go back to bed. "Coming here in the dead of night! What if you would have been spotted?"

"Then I would have fought and escaped, Mother," he said coolly, not believing that both his mother and Rowena would question his ability to take care of himself. "What are you playing at?"

"Me?" she asked, putting on an innocent face, all anger washed off.

"Don't give me that," he snapped. "The children talked about new families in the village. We want to know what's going on."

She gazed at him in silence for a few oppressive moments. Then she sighed. "You'd better come into the kitchen, then. You have interrupted us in the middle of a meeting and I had to pull Lleulu out of bed. Honestly, I thought it would be a relief to hand the keys over to her, but it proves out to be a nuisance."

Bemused, he followed her into the large, dimly lit kitchen. There, on benches and kitchen chairs sat eight men, chatting to Sir Rhys. Their ages varied from no more than a few years older than him to middle-years.

"Gentlemen," his mother said. "This is my son, Godric. Some of you knew him when he was just a wee lad, but most of you had never met him."

"He looks very much like Gawain," one of the younger men said, smiling. "I could never mistake him for someone else."

"Godric," she continues firmly. "You probably don't remember any of these men. These are Sir Eallair, Sir Brendan, Sir Jared, Sir Reynard, Sir Deiniol, Sir Gwilym, Sir Hallsteinn and Sir Alban. They used to be members of the Order of the Knights of the Phoenix. They all worked with your father and with Raven Lord. Get used to having them around, because they and their families are going to be slowly drifting to the Loch over the next couple of months. I expect that by the time you start the new school year you will have about twelve to twenty more children under your care. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Well," he said hesitantly, "yes, it was, but why are you doing this, Mother? We could have done this thing ourselves."

"No," she said." You couldn't have. You haven't got the connections, dear. And besides, this goes a bit farther than simply bringing you more students. Aren't you forgetting the reason behind founding this school of yours?"

"Of course not!" he scoffed. "It's all a part of our struggle against Ambrosius. Did you think that we had forgotten it?"

"Then these men are the start of the resistance," she said with a smile.

"Resistance?"

"You can't do this by yourselves, Godric. Ambrosius has the whole might of the Wizarding World behind him. The four of you are immensely strong, but you're not that strong. And furthermore, you will need support. Many of the community despise Ambrosius and the Council and would happily aid your cause. These men are your best allies."

He looked at the eight men critically. They were all fit of body, but that was no indication to their magical resources. However, as they had all been Knights in their past, their experience could prove invaluable.

"We need to talk it over with the others," he finally said. "I can't be the one to make the decisions. Not by myself, anyway. Can the lot of you come to the ruins tomorrow night so we can discuss this in full?"

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They were all gathered in the main room of the house the next evening.

To Godric's surprise, the eight former Knights were not the only ones to have arrived together with his mother. Dahlia and Bran were there, as were Sir Rhys, his three elder sons, Sion, Padrig and Ilar, a man introduced to them as Eanraig, the village smith, two burly brothers called Wallace and Tasgall, and a rather quiet man and his wife, Lachlan and Moira.

"What is going on here?" Salazar demanded. "I thought you said they were only eight!"

"Apparently plans had changed," Godric said helplessly. "Mother?"

"These people wish to have their children under your care," his mother verified, smiling encouragingly at the newcomers. "They asked to meet you and settle accounts."

"Accounts?"

"What will you take in return for teaching their children?"

The four friends glanced at each other, all at a loss.

"We'll be right back," Rowena said firmly. "Come. We will discuss this in privacy."

They stepped into the kitchen, and she cast a silencing charm of sorts of the door.

"We never really thought this over, did we?" she said in a troubled voice.

"Naturally we can't give our services for free," Salazar said, frowning. "No one will take us seriously if we will. They will all look at us as some sort of convenience, and that defeats our original purpose. We want people to help us, not overlook us."

"But what will we take?" Helga demanded. "We said we'd take any child of magical heritage, and some of these people haven't got the resources to pay a standardized sum."

"And what need have we in money?" Rowena said. "We're stuck here without means to leave if we wish to keep our lives, and anyway, we grow our own food now and have all we need."

"But we do need help, however," Salazar said, his face lighting up all of a sudden. "We need help rebuilding the fort, and later on we will need furniture and ornaments. Maybe we should ask first for help in building - that will be our fee 'til we have completed the Castle. After we complete the building, we can ask for furniture or cutlery, or anything else for that matter. It doesn't have to be something extensive - just enough so the families will feel they are not getting this for free."

"So whatever they give, we take?" Godric clarified.

"It seems to be the best course of action in my opinion. That way we will both have allies and a furnished castle. What do you think?"

When they returned to the main room they explained their guests their decision, and once that was out of the way, they went back to business.

All in all, Godric's mother managed to contact twenty former Knights. The eight that were sitting with them that evening had already decided to uproot their families and move to the Loch, where they will be both near the center of operations and would be able to give their children a proper education.

Six others already told Ceridwen that they would send their children over - if boarding could be arranged.

The rest did not return her communications as yet, so she had no idea what they thought of the idea.

"I suppose we could build an extra room in the house," Salazar said dubiously. "This would provide boarding to those children whose families are not going to move to the Loch."

"And once we have the Castle built," Helga said brightly, "we can construct rooms within it and make it so that all students will live in it. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Concerning the matter of Ambrosius, they had all agreed that they needed a wider support. Their first action, so it had been decided, was to approach the whole village with the idea.

"Some might argue and want to give you and all your supporters to the lawmen and through them to the Council," Ceridwen said, "but in the past few months I've perceived that many of the community are really unhappy with Ambrosius' manhunt. I think most will listen and silence those who will not."

They had all agreed on meeting again once the year of schooling would be over, because then all eight families would be living in the Loch and could come to the house on a more regular basis.

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As the year progressed, so did the building of the Castle. With the invaluable help of the families of the students, they have soon completed a major part of the building's frame.

The main entrance was built, as were three towers and a large hall to one side of the entrance space, right of where the entrance doors would be once installed. They had also discovered that beneath one of the piles of rubble was an opening that led down into an extensive set of dungeons.

By the time summer rolled in, all the towers Salazar had planned were complete, though they lacked some staircases and roofs. The four friends hoped that during the summer, when they planned on leaving the children home so they could help their families during the time of harvest and other more productive occupations, they would finally complete the whole frame and start working on the inside. It was a lot to achieve, but they had decided a long time before then that they should not let the building project take more than two years. They had more important things to accomplish, and Ambrosius' men hunting for them did not make it easy.

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"Here's for one year of schooling gone well!" Godric said cheerfully, dropping into a chair, holding up a keg. It had been his turn to return the children home on that last day of studies before they were released for the summer. The parent who had met him to take the children off his hands was Eanraig, the smith. The older man had a surprise waiting for him. An end of year present, he said.

"Oh, you're back," Rowena said emotionlessly, putting fresh, sliced bread on the dinner table. "What's in the keg?"

"An end of the year treat from Eanraig the smith. Says he thinks we deserve some treating after four months of teaching that son of his. Finest ale of the finest vintage, I'd wager."

"You can drink as much as you like - after dinner."

"Oh, come on, Rowena! We've completed a whole year without having Ambrosius eradicate us! Let's celebrate!"

"I won't have you spoiling your dinner."

"What are you, my mother?" he whined, but put the keg aside.

As Rowena turned back to the kitchen, Salazar smirked at him. "Making progress, are we?" he whispered. "She has you wrapped around her little finger."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Godric said sourly, casting longing glances at the rather lonesome keg.

"You don't?" Salazar said slyly. "Then I dare you to pick that keg and take a big swig out of it."

"I will," Godric hissed. "Just to show you!"

He reached to grasp the polished wood. His fingers barely scraped the carrier handle when from the kitchen came Rowena's voice, sharp as a whip. "Godric Gryffindor - if you lay so much as one finger on that ale, I'll feed you grass for the rest of your life."

Godric's shoulders slumped and he leaned back in his seat.

"I believe you just proved me right, Godric, my lad," Salazar smirked.

Godric sulked through most of dinner. He knew he was being ridiculous, but that was not reason enough for him to stop it.

When they finally had everything clean and tidy again, he planted himself in front of Rowena.

"Now that we've eaten, can we please open the keg?" he begged, casting pleading eyes down at her.

"Well," she said slowly, "I don't know. What do you think, Helga?"

The other woman tried to assume a thoughtful expression, but soon burst out laughing. "Oh, let him, Raven. I can't face those kicked-dog eyes of his."

Godric grinned to himself and settled back in his seat, pulling the keg to him.

"Goblets, Godric," Rowena said pointedly. "We use goblets in this household."

With a sigh he got up again. She was so... proper at times.

The kitchen was very tidy - a tidiness Helga-caused. Rowena liked to keep things clean, but tidiness had never been one of her attributes. Her working space could be at best described as chaotic, and after she cooked something in the kitchen the working surfaces would be covered with flour, or pepper, or some kind of liquid that was the only mute evidence to what had come to pass in the room.

He quickly found four goblets and returned to the main room. Once there, he poured generous amounts of ale into each goblet and handed them to his friends.

"I don't drink ale, Godric," Helga protested, pushing the goblet away. "You know that."

"Oh, nonsense, girl! Drink up! It is time to celebrate!"

The keg was bigger than Godric had first thought. It certainly seemed to have an endless bottom, for no matter how much he had poured into their goblets, it still had more in store.

He always liked his ale strong - even though Salazar claimed he could not hold his drink properly. Nonsense, in Godric's opinion. He could drink as much as he liked. After all, he had been drinking a lot since dinner ended and he was still conscious.

Helga was humming to herself happily and quite tunelessly. She pushed her goblet his way for a refill, but for some reason a lot of ale seemed to find its way onto the table.

Salazar was staring into space, a rather amusing expression on his face, Godric thought.

Rowena was talking - and talking, and talking. She talked a lot, but he had long since lost track of what exactly it was she was talking about. It did not make a lot of sense, and besides, the ale was calling his name so invitingly...

As a matter of fact, his attention was most neatly divided between two objects - one was the keg of ale, and the other was Rowena's mouth. Her small, perfect mouth, with those red lips...

Maybe I should kiss her... now that's a thought...

"...so I was thinking about - are you even listening to me?"

"I'm lissstnin'," he mumbled, feeling as though his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He pushed a finger into his mouth in attempt to disengage it.

"-was thinking about teaching Apparition-"

"App-what?" Helga giggled.

"Apparition!" Rowena's voice seemed to come from far away. Was it just him, or did the world suddenly grow hazy?

Rowena went on talking. "Maybe this is not such a good idea-"

"'s great ideeeea!" Salazar suddenly slurred, waking from his drunken trance.

"No, it's not. You're all roaring drunk!"

"'m not drunk," Godric said sullenly, looking up at Rowena. She was so beautiful... her figure was perfect... he wanted nothing better than to wrap her in his arms and...

"No," Rowena said acidly, breaking his line of thought. "You're as sober as sunshine."

"Godricssa sunshine!" Helga giggled. "Godricssa sunshine!"

The last thing Godric remembered before slipping into happy, drunken oblivion, was Rowena's mortified voice saying, "Oh, not you, too!"

That was a little pointless - but fun. See you all next week!

Mira Miracle: Thank you :) I never really pictured Salazar as evil. Merely... misguided, shall we say? And perhaps just a little bit fanatic - but not evil. I hope you will still think well of him as this story unfolds.

Do you mean Ryan's book? The Legacy of the Phoenix book? Ryan made three copies - one he sent to Ambrosius for reasons of his own, one he left at the house for Rosalind, and the third he hid on purpose for Rowena to one day find it - she wasn't that far off the mark with her musings about the map. It's her book and not Rosalind's and it's part of her heritage. I do know that books were rare at that period, but it was important for Rowena to know about her past and, so to say, "carry it with her always". Again, thank you very much and I hope you will continue enjoying it!

Doxycide: Isn't Ceridwen great? ;) Salazar's transformation, as such, is still far into the future, and I do hope you will find it believable - I hated doing it, but since JKR said that's how it went... Ah... well. And no. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you ask Helga), there's no actual monster - just a lot of superstition and legend mixed together. The Basilisk comes along much later - but I'm saying anything else!

Oh, are you a Rowena/Salazar or Godric/Helga shipper? It's just that for me Godric and Rowena always seemed to fit together. I never really considered a different ship - 'sides, the fact that my Helga is Muggle-born makes it that much more charged, no? :)

Magicgalkairi: Thanks for the offer - I really appreciate it - but I found a replacing beta. I hope you're enjoying the story!

Kitt: Thank you very much and I do hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well! Also... aren't Godric and Rowena so cute together? ;)

Goodbye rose: I'm very glad to hear that :) And I'll remember your suggestion if I'm ever in need of one again!

And that is it for this time! Thank you all and stay tuned!