A/N: This world is JKR's.
Written for: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Fortnightly Event. Het: Rowena/Salazar.
Writing for Hufflepuff.
Everything Has to End
Rowena couldn't help pulling the pocket watch from Salazar's vest and checking the time. She couldn't help clutching it in her fist as though the sheer strength of will might be enough to pause time, if even just for a moment longer. She didn't realize she'd closed her eyes until she opened them again, and a flood of warm tears ran down her face.
"You know I have to go," he mumbled against her hair. "You know that, Rowena."
"I know," she whispered, pressing herself into his side. The pin-striped vest provided little actual comfort, considering it was stiff and smelled like new clothes, but the way he smelled and the way he responded to her touch was what she needed right then. "That doesn't mean I like it, though. Can't you just accept the muggle-borns?"
He scoffed sharply, jostling her, and adjusted his seat. He'd been so thoughtful as to conjure a swinging bench for the two of them and they were watching the sun set over the Black Lake. Keeping one foot on the ground to maintain their motion, he spoke more harshly. "No. When I think of you, here with them, or Helena going to school with them, I just- I get so- I feel so angry! I can't stay and watch that."
Rowena sat up, separating herself from the warmth she craved to drink in from him, and holding his hand on her lap. "But don't you see that we're happy here? This," she waved a hand towards the rolling hills that surrounded them, "is everything we ever dreamt of, Salazar! Since we were little!"
"Since you were little. I never dreamt of sharing this world with mudbloods."
They sat in silence for a long time, each wishing the other was just slightly different and, more than anything, wishing that the ticking hands of his pocket watch would stop moving. There wasn't much to say when you knew it didn't matter anyway. They'd never see each other again and they'd never agree.
Eventually, the sun touched the horizon and disappeared behind the gently tossing waves of the Lake. "Everything has to end," Rowena whispered, her voice shaky with tears.
"Not everything," he mused. "I've always loved you."
"After all this time?"
"Always." Salazar placed a hand on her cheek, tears springing to his own eyes as he felt the stickiness from hers. "Always," he repeated. Leaning forward, he kissed her fiercely, and his kiss was his goodbye. As he turned away from her, he disapparated, leaving her alone at the side of the lake.
Sobs racked her as she stood, the bench disappearing underneath her, and turned her eyes back out to the Lake. "No," she cried, "everything has to end."