Hullo, everyone! This is my first time writing something for anything other than Lord of the Rings. Its just a quick little one shot, but I might write more. If you like it, please leave a review!
"Salazar, open the door. Your quarrel is with Godric, not with me." Rowena called through the locked wooden door. Salazar sat inside his office curled around a parchment on his desk. A thin green strand of light from the tip of his wand wound lazily around a candle stick, casting eerie shadows on the damp walls.
"If you're as clever as you claim, open it yourself." Salazar spoke in a low tone. "Or is your house not so aptly named?"
Rowena sighed, and raised her wand. Even Salazar's slippery spells were no match for her intellect, as he knew very well.
"Are you going to curse me when I open this door?" She asked as her mind raced to find a counter charm for whatever Salazar had placed on the lock.
"I make no promises, my lady." Salazar hissed. Sighing again, she twirled her wand though the air, and there was a click as the door unlocked itself. She took the handle and swung it open. The hinges creaked and echoed in the stony corridor behind her.
"I am not a lady, I hold no title." She corrected him. He ignored her and continued scrawling something across a messy map filled with runes and unfamiliar symbols. She walked over and stood beside him, and gazed as he worked. He was fast, she saw, and clever. His hands were quick and precise. So different from Godric's.
"You should not start these things with him." She said in a low voice. This was dangerous ground with Salazar. One misstep and he would send her tumbling back the way she had come. She may be the cleverer witch, but his skill at dueling was unrivaled.
"The fire boils the water." He said without looking up.
"But even boiling water may douse a fire. You let things go too far." She said. He looked up at her then, but she could read nothing in his steely gray eyes. He spoke quietly next, with barely suppressed rage.
"I let things go too far? You blame me for his insanity, his stupidity? You insult me, Rowena. Godric is a fool. I will not be blamed for his lacking control and unchecked rage. It is no fault of mine that he likes to storm around the castle in his riotousness, no fault of mine that he picks arguments with me. The sooner he leaves the school, the better."
"If Godric leaves, the school will fail. United we are stronger than any one alone. Is that what you want, Salazar?" Rowena raised her hand and gestured to the elaborate stone ceiling above her. "Do you want to see all of this come crashing down?"
Salazar was silent for a moment. He watched her as she began to pace back and forth across the floor, the hem of her long silver down trailing in the water. Her hair flowed freely down her back, in a style he rarely had the pleasure of seeing. She looked radiant in the dim green light.
"No. I would not see the castle fall, but how can it stand, with Godric and I so at odds?"
"Go to him now!" Rowena urged "Go to him now and apologize so that all might be well again. Admit your folly." As soon as the words were free from her lips she wished them back again. Salazar stood, eyes flashing with anger.
"Admit my folly? So the folly is mine? Is that what you think, my dear Rowena?" He walked towards her till she was cornered by the door. "But what does it matter what you think? You are not pure of blood. Your thoughts mean nothing. You are as unwise as all the rest of them. And a woman no less." He spat, spinning on his heel and returning to his seat, but not to his work. Rowena stood still for a moment, watching him, and fighting to keep tears from her eyes. Then without a word she turned and ran out the door, her dark hair streaming out behind her back. Salazar watched her go with a slight pang, but did not move to follow. She would be back soon enough.