The garden to the Ravenclaw manor was wide and lush, an expanse of finery, of colour and shade and sun and all of it with an unmistakable air of magic. If not for Rowena's closest friend and greatest ally, Helga, it would not have been so. When Rowena was inside taking her lessons, she would watch her best friend approach the gardeners and give them helping hands, secretly using potions and spells and charmed bags of soil to help the flowers grow. The white roses glowed in moonlights, the vines grew over the trees and flowered in little blue blooms, approaching the lilacs left you smelling exquisite all day, the chrysanthemum bloomed in every colour, edging the path with a rainbow. Dahlia's and orchids surrounded a tall weeping willow, which was definitely Rowena's favourite place. When Helga found out that Rowena loved that tree, she planted the deep blue and violet flowers, leaving space for them both to rest in the shade of the beautiful tree.
Rowena's hand shook as she rested it on the trunk of the willow, her bottom lip giving a small shake. She almost couldn't believe what she had said to her friend, had said to drive her away. How could she have been so callous? A part of her wasn't surprised; Rowena had always tried to be kind to her friend who had grown up with so much less than what Rowena had had, but it was hard to hold back the ideals that had been pushed into her from such a young age. And now she was paying for it.
Three gardeners wearing brown and muddy clothes approached from behind and she sighed, wiping her eyes. She hated being interrupted. She turned and waved her hand.
"No, go away, I shall not deal with this today. I want to be alone, go work elsewhere," she instructed firmly, breathing in the calm coldness she had learnt so well.
The shortest set down her wagon and looked to the tallest; her eyes hidden by her wide brimmed hat. The tallest, a slim man, pulled off his hat and smirked down at his friend.
"Salazar-" Rowena said in surprise as the dark haired man bowed.
"We heard you had locked yourself up in your home," he informed her coolly. "And this could be considered... an intervention."
"We?" she asked, looking to the other man as he pulled off his hat and a sudden bushel of bright red hair burst from the space it left, a wide grin spreading across Godric's face.
"WE!" he confirmed, stepping up and wrapping his arms around her in a sudden hug, twirling her in his arms. She laughed and hit his shoulder to make him put her down, but secretly enjoying the sudden attention. Godric's informality had always been Rowena's favourite thing about him, even if she complained about it the most. He put her down and grinned warmly at her, his eyes more lined than she remembered. But he wasn't looking at her anymore, he was looking at the third gardener, the small, slightly wide lady. Her head was down and she didn't look up at her friend. Rowena looked away, saying nothing for a moment.
"... I understand if you don't want to speak to me, what I said to you was unacceptable," she said quietly, her voice even and devoid of emotion. Rowena hesitated then glanced at Helga, who was looking up at her now, still silent. "... I..." Rowena felt pain rise up in her chest as Helga kept looking at her, saying nothing, eyes gazing into her soul. "Say something!" she demanded.
Helga grinned and let out a sudden laughing breath then covered her mouth with her hand. Rowena frowned but she did it again. "So, do you want me to speak or not, you seem to be in two minds about it, miss," she noted, giving a small giggle.
Rowena looked horrified and grabbed her friends hands.
"No!" she cried suddenly. Helga looked at her, shocked but still mildly amused.
"Hm?" she asked, conversationally.
"Do not refer to me as miss," Rowena told her forcefully. "You're my greatest friend, my favourite person in the whole world, don't you ever refer to me as if I was above your station. You're the greatest witch I've ever known Helga-!" she stopped suddenly and looked away, blushing. Rowena was usually cool and calm. She was factual, a fountain of knowledge and learning, she was NOT an emotional wreck.
Helga was shocked to say the least. "But-"
"No buts," Rowena interrupted suddenly. "You are my friend and I will not have you think of yourself as anything less."
Helga smiled slowly and warmly. "Oh you silly goose," she said softly, pulling her close in a sudden and warm hug. Rowena didn't hesitate to hug her back, gripping the back of her clothes tightly. She sniffed deeply, trying to hide her running nose and soon to be leaking eyes. Helga turned her head so she could whisper in Rowena's ear.
"I know thing's have been hard. I'm so sorry for your loss," she said softly. Her words held an inhuman amount of emotion, as if Helga herself had been the one to lose her mother. Rowena's grip tightened in the fabric of her shirt and hid her face in Helga's hair as her tears spilled over. After a few moments of pure silence, Helga pulled back gently.
"I'm sorry, I really am but... you can't stay here," Helga told her firmly, gripping her shoulders. "You need to come with us."
Rowena looked at Salazar, whose expression was as even as always, and Godric, who was looking at her with warmth. She turned her attention back to Helga and shook her head.
"I cannot leave my home-"
Helga laughed. "You do not have a choice!" she said brightly. "I love you but you have a job to do," she added, giving her a stern expression, which she pulled off looking more motherly than imposing. Rowena was confused for a few moments before gasping and lightly pressing her fingers to her mouth as Helga released her shoulders.
"You- you finished the school?" She asked. Helga nodded and looked sheepish.
"We had some mermaid trouble. SOMEONE decided they wanted their common room to look into their home."
"Our students deserve the best, and the lake is an expanse that should be used as a resource. A high glass ceilinged common room with a view of actual mermaids?" He smirked. "No other institute would ever compare."
Helga rolled her eyes. "And who was the one doing the negotiating, hm?"
"Oh, I would employ only the best negotiator, dear Huffle," Salazar said, his voice dripping with sweetness as held her shoulder reassuringly.
Rowena remembered when Helga would blush and and huff with fake annoyance at his charm, but now she just rolled her eyes and moved on. They had all grown into adults, they had all matured and became more powerful. Rowena was only gone a year, but in that year the others had grown closer to each other and Rowena had grown further away; she had missed so much.
"So," Godric said, interrupting her train of thought, his voice holding surprising softness as he stepped in front of her. "Are you ready to move on?"
Rowena looked around. She looked at her willow, she looked at the dahlias and orchids, she looked past them at the pebbled path edge with chrysanthemums and at the rose bushes. She looked at her garden, the one she grew up in and always wondered why Helga would try so hard to make it a paradise, and then just choose to move on.
Helga and Salazar stepped up to Rowena, blocking her view. Now all she could see was her friends, looking at her expectantly and hopefully; the people she cared about the most in her life. She glanced at Helga, her expression worried. What could she possibly be worried about? Thinking about the darkness and emptiness of the past year, and how suddenly warm Helga had been to Rowena, she came to realise why Helga acted the way she did.
"I think," Rowena said slowly. "It's time to go to our school," she informed them. Her eyes went to Helga, whose expression lit up and her hands clasped Rowena's. Helga didn't care about the garden, or the words that Rowena had said, or the year they had spent apart. Helga cared about Rowena.
As Helga pulled Rowena away from the weeping willow, she told her excitedly of the castle tower that she had tried to prepare for Rowena, and how the school would not truly be finished until Rowena gave her seal of approval and her own personality to that place. The two boys glanced at each other before took the swings from the cart they had pulled with them, and levitated them into space, the ropes flicking around a low, thick branch and tying tightly. The took cart with them as they left, a soft breeze blowing the seats to swing gently.