Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Written for the Stumble Upon challenge at HPFC with a song (below) and the picture www . stumbleupon su / 2hfgDZ / www . outdoor-photos photo / 3797977 . jpg
"Nobody feels the weight of your mission
Nobody can set you free
Nobody knows the way to your fortune
Nobody and least of all...
Me"
"Nobody's Man" by Tina Dickow
-:-
Her hands are in the pockets of her gown as she walks the grounds. It is autumn, Rowena's favorite season, and Hogwarts' very first year starts tomorrow. She tells herself that she's not at all uneasy, but it's a lie. Godric is confident that the school will be a success. She isn't so sure.
Helga and Godric already love it here, and Salazar… well, Salazar is Salazar, so she has no idea how he feels. Nervous, she expects, if only because they're all a bit nervous.
The gnarled trees along the path give the school in the background a historic look even newly built. Rowena stops to touch one, standing in a beam of autumn sunlight.
"Rowena."
She turns, shading her eyes against the sun, and smiles hesitantly. "Good afternoon, Salazar."
"Closer to evening," he says, looking up at the falling sun.
She nods.
"Are you prepared for tomorrow?" he says.
She nods again. Rowena's not used to carrying on such long conversations with Salazar, of all people, and she feels her heart speed up to fill the silence.
Salazar leans against her tree and looks at her- just looks at her- and Rowena feels her palms start to sweat. She wipes them on her gown surreptitiously.
He steps even closer, a strange expression in his green eyes, and Rowena shivers.
"Do I make you nervous?" he asks in a blunt way more suited to Godric. She blinks. She blinks again.
"No," she says.
Salazar flashes his teeth in a grin. "Ro, darling, you may be the brightest of us four, but even I can tell when you're lying."
The sun is dropping faster and the shade presses around Rowena. She shakes her head. "I'm not," she insists.
He steps closer- too close, much too close- and cradles her head in his hand. Rowena doesn't meet his eyes.
"I can't," she blurts. "This isn't- you're not- I'mnot right for you, I'll just mess everything up, I barely even know you, do I-"
He cuts her off with a kiss.
A few moments later, he pulls away and she stares at him.
He runs his hand through his dark hair. "You don't need to do anything to be right for me, Ro. You just are."
She smiles again, less hesitantly this time, and kisses him back.