Rowena Ravenclaw was sitting in her grand bedroom late at night after everyone had fallen asleep. She was wearing a long sleeping gown that was cream colored and was slightly snug against her fit figure. The bed that she was lying on was a magnificently large bed with midnight blue drapes around it. Resentment towards her parents was flowing through her veins like a fast paced river. On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, her parents, the king and queen of France, had just informed her that she was to be married to some random guy that she didn't even know.

She stood up from her comfortable bed, walked over to her oak vanity stand, and started brushing her beautiful brown wavy locks of hair. Although her parents said that she should be excited, for she was marrying the prince of Norway, who was the son of one of the richest families in the world, she was quite sad indeed. Her chocolate colored eyes drifted over to her desk and she saw a piece of parchment and quill resting on top of it. Rowena put down her brush and crossed the room to sit down at her desk. The slender hand picked up the large feather quill, grabbed a tiny bottle of ink, and she began to write a letter to the man she cared more about than anyone else.

Dear Salazar,

My heart beats for the moment my eyes rest on you again, for the moment you touch my hand, for the moment when I'll be able to kiss your soft lips once more. It is the eve of my seventeenth birthday and I cannot wait until I am able to see you once more.

Right now everyone in the castle is asleep so that I could write this to you in secrecy. Mother and Father have just told me that I am to be married to the prince of Norway, and that they would start making preparations for the wedding quite soon. They both want this wedding to happen in a year.

But I am terribly upset over this news. You are the one, the only one that I love. I love you so much Salazar, but I am puzzled on how we can make our relationship work now. I am not giving up on our hopes and dreams of being together.

Love forever,

Rowena

She had decided to write this letter at night because of some family issues. Salazar had been her boyfriend ever since he and his wealthy family came to stay at the castle two years ago. The only reason that her father had allowed the Slytherins to stay in his home was because of a raging war that had ended just a couple of months ago. Rowena and Salazar had taken an immediate interest in each other, but their families strictly forbade them to see each other. Her father had a grudge against Salazar's father because Salazar's father had supposedly killed her grandfather. The two families had been feuding ever since.

Rowena folded the letter into thirds before addressing it. Her magnificent white owl, Winter, was sleeping on the windowsill in her bedroom. She lightly stroked his head, and his eyelids opened to reveal startling black eyes, and he gave a tired hoot.

"I need you to deliver this to Salazar," Rowena whispered to Winter, holding up the letter. Winter grabbed the parchment letter with her beak and flew off into the starry night. With a sigh, Rowena went back to her bed and with a sigh she switched off her lamp with her wand and drifted off to sleep.

"Miss Ravenclaw," a small girl's voice whispered the next morning. "Your Mother and Father say that it is time for you to get up,"

Rowena inwardly groaned and opened her eyes to see one of the servants named Victoria. Victoria was a little girl of ten years with wavy red hair and charming brown eyes. She had been found on the doorstep of the castle on a rainy night ten years ago when Victoria had been just a little baby.

"Thank you Victoria," said Rowena with a nod. "Please tell them that I will be downstairs quite soon."

Victoria gave her a quick smile and a nod before shutting the door, leaving Rowena alone in her room. She pushed herself into a sitting position before standing up, pulling her cream-colored floor-length robe tighter around her body. Her slender hand picked up her wand and with a mere flick of it the light green curtains on all of her windows closed, stopping the vast majority of the bright sunlight from shining into her room.

Rowena crossed her room to her closet to choose a dress for the day. Her closet was quite large and held different colored dresses for every occasion. For today she chose a frilly pale blue and white dress with some pale blue flats. Once her dress and shoes were on, she moved to her vanity, pulled out her brush, and brushed her brown hair while looking in the mirror. She decided that instead of her hair being wavy that she would straighten it and put it into a bun. With a flick of her wand, the wavy hair straightened out and formed a bun. Completely satisfied with how she looked, Rowena exited her room.

"Ah, good morning, Rowena," her mother greeted. One of the servant boys hurried forward and pulled out a chair for Rowena to sit in at the dining table. She sat down and scooted in slightly. "Did you sleep well?" her mother continued.

"Yes, I slept quite well, Mother," Rowena answered.

The same servant boy who had pulled out her chair came forward with a pitcher of water and poured her a glass full of it. He then came back a minute later carrying three plates of pancakes. There were only two on each plate along with a tiny square of butter. The boy set a plate down in front of Rowena, then her mother, and then her father.

"Why are we eating pancakes this morning?" Rowena asked her parents.

"Well, because it is your birthday today, honey," her mother answered with a slight chuckle.

Rowena became a little flustered and a tiny tint of pink rose onto her cheeks; she had completely forgotten about her birthday.

"That's okay, Rowena," her mother assured her, quickly grasping her hand. "With so much going on lately I'm not at all surprised that you forgot."

"That reminds me," her father suddenly said. "Rowena, I have excellent news. In the following week the king and queen of Norway are coming to visit us and they are bringing their son, Henry. I have invited them to stay for the entire week so that our families may begin to get to know each other. It will be an excellent time for you and Henry to become acquaintances."

Rowena felt her heart sink and any joy she had with it being her birthday suddenly vanished. She didn't want to meet this Henry guy; she only wanted to be with Salazar. Her parents obviously did not know this, so she put up a happy face and claimed to be excited about the meeting. One thought was on her mind the entire time: I need to leave this country with Salazar before the royal family of Norway arrived.