DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

Enjoying the Moment

One and only Chapter

It was another gloomy winter day at the newly founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Snow drifted lazily down to the earth, covering the grounds in a silent blanket of white. Students hustled from class to class, chatting despairingly of classes and upcoming exams. It seemed as though everything and everyone was in a moping mood, now that the holidays had passed. As Helga Hufflepuff wandered down a familiar corridor, she noticed her dearest friend also seemed to be in a sulking mood. Rowena Ravenclaw was slowly walking with her shoulders slumped and her face scrunched up, clearly deep in thought. Thinking back, Helga recalled her friend being in a type of brooding mood ever since the beginning of the first term. Thinking nothing of it was no longer an option, as Rowena was now mercilessly taking house points away from two first year girls who were doing nothing wrong. Rowena had been taking house points from anyone who seemed to get on her bad side (which was unfortunate now that she only seemed to have one side).

Helga walked up to her best friend and ally, glancing briefly at the bewildered faces of the first years as they walked by. She only caught a few words of what they were saying as they passed her.

"…weren't doing anything wrong!"

"What crawled up…?"

"Rowena," Helga ignored the two schoolgirls as they hurried along to their classes. "May I speak with you in my office, please?"

Rowena looked up from the floor she had been scowling at, surprise flickering across her face as she was startled to hear her first name used. Upon recognizing who had spoken to her, she frowned. "What am I, a schoolgirl now?"

"If you were then you should be in class right now and I would have addressed you by your last name only." Helga's voice was always kind and made it hard for anyone to truly become upset with her. It also didn't help that she had a caring smile on her face.

"Right, I'll go to your office so long as you don't give me a detention." They turned around in the hallway and began walking the short distance to Helga's office.

"Who says I'd give you just one?" An impish grin accompanied Helga's voice, a grin that usually was returned. However, instead of even getting a slight smile, she received a small grimace. The rest of their journey was made in silence, one pondering mysterious thoughts and the other wondering why her friend had been acting so strangely around her this year.

At last they walked up to a portrait of a badger on a yellow and black background. Upon their arrival, the badger stood on its front legs and did a back flip, clearly excited to get a visit.

"Dew Drops" Helga said in a clear voice. The portrait swooped open and the two witches carefully stepped through the opening it made. Inside the opening was a small, den-like office. The stone walls formed a perfect circle with pictures of badgers in various settings scattering the walls. Opposite of the entrance was a tiny fireplace that, despite its small size, gave off a very strong amount of heat. To the left of the fireplace was a rather large desk with various papers spread out on top of it. Across from the desk were two yellow and black stripped chairs that appeared to be bursting at the seams.

The two founders each took a seat in the overstuffed chairs and sat in what would have become an uncomfortable silence if Helga hadn't cut it off by abruptly starting their conversation.

"I may not be as bright as you, Rowena, but I am certainly not daft. There is clearly something bothering you and I wish that you could open up to me and let it out so that I may help you solve whatever is wrong."

"I'm a grown woman. Shouldn't I be past the age of crushes and hopes of love?"

"Which one is it then, Salazar or Godric?"

"Neither it's… "

"Come, it can't be that hard to say."

"It's you."

Helga stopped breathing as Rowena suddenly began to go on as though an invisible floodgate had been opened and there was no possible way she could prevent herself from spilling the secrets she had been holding in for almost a year.

"You see, at the beginning of this year, I realized that I didn't just love you as a friend. I love you as more than a friend. In fact, I would like very much like to love you as a lover. Despite my attractions to you physically, I've begun to notice everything that is good and wonderful about whom you are as a person. Ever since I've realized this about myself I've had to deal with questions, the first one being 'should I tell you?' I didn't want to risk our friendship over my own feelings because I don't want to lose my best friend and partner. Of course there was also the possibility that you might not return my affections which would make me feel very foolish indeed, especially now that you know how I feel and now that I seem to be rambling on and not able to shut myself up in case you decide to throw me out or something worse such as-

"Rowena, shut up and kiss me."

"I- what?"

"Stop thinking about everything and stop using logic and reason and just kiss me already."

"But-"

"Oh for the love of…" Helga sprung from her chair, quickly closing the distance between the two women. To the utter disbelief of Rowena, Helga was softly pushing their lips together in a chaste, albeit passionate, kiss. Rowena, not breaking their embrace for fear that it would turn out to all be a dream, slowly stood up and wrapped her arms around the slightly plumper figure of the Hufflepuff founder. She gave a slight moan as she felt the other woman's arms wrap around her waste and shoulders. The moment seemed to last for an eternity, neither one of the two witches halting their mouths, knowing that once the moment ended, explanations would need to be had, emotions needed to be revealed and decisions needed to be made.

However, for now, the two founders were quite content to not ask questions and to simply enjoy the moment.