The first time I saw Salazar I sensed nothing of the darkness that would one day destroy our friendship. But I have never been considered a good judge of character.

I had been told to be wary of the Slytherin boys, and even more so of their single daughter. Their family was considered silver, while mine was gold. In other words they would do anything to get their claws into the first son of Gryffindor, and the heir apparent.

Salazar was younger than I by a good few years; I had already been knighted while he was only halfway through his page training. But I saw something of myself in the boy.

Anyway, on with the story of how I first saw him, then perhaps I will tell you of our first meeting.

My father and I were visiting other good wizarding families around England and were in London at the time. We were invited to a gathering to celebrate one of their daughter's coming of age. She was a pretty witch, and I did dance with her, but her heart was already decided and her parents were happy with the match.

There were other girls, but none attracted my fancy, I knew my father would choose a suitable match, and I had long ago given up on finding my 'true love' in England.

While my father would not have disowned me for having my fun with muggle girls, I knew that my wife could not come from them, and so kept myself apart.

I really should stop wandering from the point of this story shouldn't I?

I walked out onto the balcony, finding the air refreshing after several glasses of wine. I would like to say that I was not drunk, but a knight never lies.

My host kept kennels, hunting dogs mostly, and as I later found out it was one of Salazar's duties to feed and groom the house dogs.

While normally these dogs were allowed to roam the house at will, one bitch was with pups, and was being kept outside in the kennels. She was not best pleased with this. I was first attracted by the sound of whimpering and whining, then a more cheerful bark.

Curiosity that would one day be my downfall led me there.

A boy of ten or eleven years, dressed in the house colours, was comforting the bitch with meats that had been served at the party.

I never saw his eyes, but he had a mop of black hair and a rather pale complexion.

That was the first time I saw Salazar, making much of a hound who felt abandoned. He always loved animals, and could tame anything, or at least make it respect him. I don't believe he saw me then, but maybe he felt my presence.

Maybe that memory is why I continued to trust Salazar for so long, how could someone who loved so fiercely ever be decided by hate? But I was never a good judge of character.

My father had decided to stay the night. He didn't tell me why, but I think he was considering our host's older daughter as a suitable match. I remember her simply because we danced well together, then at the breakfast table she managed to actually talk to me instead of simpering.

It was unusual for me to consider a woman a friend, but I think me and Charlene could have been if our situations had been different. As an unmarried maiden she could not be seen as entertaining a friendship with any man, and then when she married she took her husband's views, which were opposed to mine and my family's.

I must admit that at that time I was much absorbed in thoughts of my future wife. While my father had made clear to me the duty of continuing the line, I did have hopes that I would have the same partnership that I sensed from my grandparents before they passed away.

In that effort I made sure to pay attention to the girls of marriageable age, and on occasion made my father known of my impression of them. He in turn would listen, then inform me why each girl was suitable, or not, and what he had noticed about the girls themselves and their family present.

It was educational to say the least. I would one day be expected to move in my father's circles with the same grace and attention to detail. I'm glad to say my father was for the most part proud of my character, if not my common sense, but I was the heir and one day I would need good friends and powerful allies.

To say I did not have friends would be a bit unfair, but part of me did consider the other young men beneath me. Then there was my gift.

Wandless fire. It was a family gift, from my mother, but I was the only one of her children to display the talent, and my fire burned far brighter than hers ever did.

In all fairness this gift did make me cocky. I might have been fearless, but I was also reckless.

Maybe Salazar will one day forgive me. I doubt I'll ever forgive myself. He was my friend, the best friend I had ever known, we knew each other better than we knew our selves. And I let him go, I drove him away, it was my fault he turned against us, it was I who refused to listen, it is me that he now hates. It is me who will end him, and him who will end me, it has been foreseen and foretold.

The breakfast table was well lain out, I remember the food being good, even if I don't remember exactly what I dined upon.

Our host had two squires and three pages, with Salazar being the youngest, or at least the smallest there. When they began to clear away plates our Host beckoned to Salazar, "Boy." The other pages took fright, but Salazar was as cool as ice.

"Sir?" The tone was polite, but something in the stance was not.

"Where did you disappear to last night? Ducking your duties again?"

Fear, but also rebellion, "No Sir. Maxine…"

"Knights don't lie. You weren't anywhere near the kennels last night."

Now while I wouldn't normally interrupt a master telling off one of his servants, I had also recently taken an oath that I would always tell the truth, even when it would lead to my death.

"Sir, he was in the kennels last night, seeing to one heavy with pups."

Heaven and Hell were contained within the looks I received then.

"Sir Godric, do you claim that one of my own knights would lie to me?"

"No Sir, I was merely informing you that this boy was within your kennels last night."

It was perhaps lucky for both Salazar and myself that my father decided to intervene.

"Now Aloysius, I was thinking of acquiring a page for Godric here, teaching might steady the boy, you know what young lads are like."

"Continue…"

"Well since this is the first time I have seen Godric take an interest in anyone other than the young ladies, it would be agreeable to me if we came to an understanding here with young…"

"Salazar Slytherin. I owned the family a favour and agreed to take the lad on, he would need knocking into shape, but his spell work so far has outdone my other pages. His father is not a problem."

I was watching Salazar's face as my father and our host discussed his fate, and while I am not the most perceptive of people I did believe I saw a sharp pain when his father was mentioned.

I wondered about that for many years. Salazar was the youngest of seven; I knew that much about his family at the time. Two of his brothers were already knights, the heir married well and had a daughter, the second son was crusading, the third son expected his knighthood soon, the daughter, his sister, was of marriageable age, while the other two boys were squires.

I knew of no reason for the pain, and did not learn of it for many years. By then it was too late to heal the wounds that torn the Slytherin family apart. Maybe even then it was too late to save Salazar.

I thought I knew him. I thought he trusted me. I know I trusted him. I never thought we would die together, part of me always believed Salazar would outlive me, he was too careful while I was foolish, he was quick and nimble while I relied too much one my strength.

He still is my best friend, I don't think I could ever kill him, and yet it has been foretold, and I am no coward to go running from his fate.

But maybe, one last time, we could sit together and talk for hours like we used to, retelling the old tales where we only lived because of our wits and our friends.

When we left that day, I had a new page, and that is where our tale began. If I had remained quiet that day then maybe our lives would have been different, maybe the world would have been different.

I know my life would have been shorter.

AN - I have read a few stories of the founders and they interest me in a way most background chars don't. I considered the titbits we have been given on the founders and tried to imagine the time period and how such different people came to found a school together. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor both became politically powerful in their world, but I believed their friendship must have been formed while they were still young.

I don't consider this story to have a plot, it will be just spotlights in their lives, and I hope to show how they could have ended up at war. You know where it'll end, but it's the journey that's important.

As for updates, they'll happen when they happen. This won't be a continuous story, so it might jump around abit (or alot). I know when Helga and Rowena will meet this story, but other things must happen along the way, such as Godric's marriage, and that's not yet a clear image in my mind.