Salazar's Helper

"Can you stop breathing so loud? I'm trying to work here."

"Why, you say that as though I'm doing it on purpose." Godric laughed and slapped Salazar on the shoulder, causing the man's quill to zip across the parchment he had been scribbling on.

The dark haired man sighed. Taking out his wand, he waved it around a few times before the ink evaporated. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were."

Godric laughed again, moving behind Salazar's chair. Sucking in his breath, he held it for a few seconds whilst he waited for the man to go back to his work. Then, leaning in to his ear, he let it his breath out.

"Always so suspicious, Salazar," Godric said, strolling over to the opposite chair and taking a seat.

"Grr." Salazar gripped his quill tightly, his knuckles turning white under the strain. If he didn't take a deep breath of his own, the writing utensil would have snapped in his hand.

Godric hid his grin when Salazar looked up and glared at him, looking down at his nails and pretending to examine them.

"You know, you could be helping me instead of moping about here all day," Salazar said.

"Would it make you finish quicker?"

Salazar didn't speak for a moment. His quill scratched along the parchment, and it was only when the man stopped to dip his quill into the ink pot by his side that he spoke. "Usually, more help is always welcome to make a task go quicker. With you, however, maybe not so much."

Godric shrugged his shoulders, not bothered in the least by Salazar's jab. "So, what are you working on anyway? I thought we were done with all the plans."

"One can never be done with anything, Godric. I want to make sure everything is as planned out as much as possible; it's all in the details."

"It's all in the details," Godric repeated, his voice higher than normal. "Come on, I'm starving! Let's go and do something interesting."

He sighed again when Salazar ignored him. He began to drum his fingers against the table, blowing a lock of golden hair out of his eyes. His stomach grumbled, almost drowning out the annoyed huffs coming from the opposite end of the table.

When Godric started to whistle a tune he had not long heard, Salazar slammed the quill down on the table. "Perhaps," he said slowly, "you could find something to entertain yourself whilst you are waiting?"

"Like what?"

Salazar rubbed two fingers against his forehead. "I don't know, Godric. Lady Helga may need some help with her garden plans."

Godric folded his arms and placed his head in them, sighing again. He had to work hard to suppress the shiver he felt as he thought back to the last time he had offered Helga his assistance with her beloved plants. She had been growing a Devil's Snare—an exotic vine-like plant some peddler had introduced to her. The way she had spoken about it was like it was some plant that occasionally wiggled around. She hadn't seemed to think it was vicious at all, not even when it had tried to strangle Godric, a thick green tendril having slipped around his throat and tightly squeezed.

Godric had never feared anything before, not until he had come across that dastardly plant. He made a mental note to ban it from their new school and looked up.

"I'll pass."

"Then read a book," Salazar said, pushing a heavy tome towards him.

Godric rolled his eyes but pulled it towards him. Reading the title, he glanced up at Salazar. "'Names and Their Origins?' What kind of boring tome is that?"

"I'm using it to research some appropriate school name," Salazar said through gritted teeth. "If this school is going to go ahead, I don't want to be embarrassed by using a name that holds no meaning to any of us."

"Godric's School of Learning has meaning," Godric said.

Salazar raised a thick eyebrow. "If you say so. I, for one, do not want to establish an institution named after a—a—well, anything common, really, like say a table or a… a pig."

"Always so suspicious and always so dramatic," Godric said, flipping open the book.

Salazar pinched his nose and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he turned back to his work, his nostrils flaring as he started scribbling away once more. Godric watched him for a moment, tempted to breath out into his ear again, but soon realised the man would just ignore him.

Stretching his arms back and yawning, he focused back on the book. He couldn't fathom who would spend so much time researching the meaning behind names, but if the author was as boring as Salazar, who only ever did something if it had value in it, then perhaps the book could prove an interesting read.

The first few chapters were organised into the origins of places, both Muggle and magical, and who had discovered them. Godric skipped past them, turning to the section on Wizarding names. There were both given names and surnames listed, and as he flipped to the 'G' section, he wasn't surprised about the information listed. His father had drilled into him their family history already, from everything about their kin conquering villages to an affinity for Wizard jousting.

What Godric had never been told about was where his first name came from.

"Hey, guess what? It says here that my names means 'God.' Well, technically 'power of God' or 'God ruler.'"

Salazar gave a deep sigh, his quill pausing on the parchment. "I'm surprised you didn't already know that," he said, resuming his writing.

Godric rolled his eyes and continued flicking through to the 'S' section. His eyes lit up when he found that his companion's name was listed, even more so as he read the meaning given next to it.

"Well, at least my name doesn't mean 'old hall.' Pretty boring if you ask me," he said.

Peeking over at Salazar, Godric was pleased to see the man sit up and square his shoulders. His pointed chin appeared stiff, as though Salazar was gritting his teeth. Godric had hit a nerve, it seemed, and was confirmed as much with Salazar's next words.

"Salazar is a perfectly good name, thank you very much." When Godric scoffed, Salazar added, "And it is original, for that matter. My father did not think I needed to be named after a deity to do well."

Godric rolled his eyes yet again. Salazar's lips were pressed together, but he could detect the hint of smirk upon them. Pushing back his chairs and stretching his arms to the ceiling, yawning as loudly as possible, he said, "Well, the least he could have named you after something more interesting than a boring old hall. You know, something a bit more magical, like the stars."

Salazar snorted. "The stars? I have never heard anything more unoriginal than someone being named after a constellation of sorts. Those who do should be—" he stopped abruptly, lifting a hand to the goatee forming on his chin. "—stars."

"Yes, Salazar, stars. You know, those twinkly things up in the sky?"

Salazar shook his head. Dipping his quill into the pot, almost knocking it over, he grabbed up a fresh sheet of parchment and started scrolling all over it. Godric had never seen the man write so fast—not that he really ever paid that much attention.

"Yes, the stars, that could work," Salazar muttered. "Lady Rowena insisted on something astronomy based… yes… the grand hall ceiling… this would be good."

"You've finally lost the plot," Godric said.

He walked behind Salazar's chair, trying to see what the man was doing, only to narrowly miss getting a squashed foot. Salazar had scraped back his chair, his arms holding up the parchment and flapping it around in the hopes that the ink would dry faster.

The man, his dark eyes alight with excitement, then ran to the door. He stopped at the archway, turning on his heel and smirking at Godric.

"You know what, Godric? You helped me after all," he said and disappeared down the corridor.

Godric scratched his head, not entirely sure what had just happened. One moment he had been insulting his companion, the next minute he was running off. Perhaps Salazar really had cracked.

Shrugging, Godric walked over to the door and leant out. "Does this mean we can eat now?" he called after the man.

A/N: This story was written for the lovely Jill (Gilgalen) for winning the golden snitch on The Golden Snitch forum. I hope you enjoy my attempt at a Godric/ Salazar drabble.

I apologise if Godric appears more childish than valiant in this; as a Gryffindor, I really do not intend to mock him haha. However, when looking at examples of Godric/ Salazar, I couldn't help but be reminded slightly of how I interpret the 'WolfStar' pairing, in that Godric is a lot like Sirius to Salazar's sensible Remus. I also apologise in advance if there's a bit of spag here and there, and for the lack of Old English, but it will be beta'd ASAP. If anyone reads this and spots something wrong, please feel more than welcome to point it out (preferably in a non-flame way). I know that it's believed Rowena Ravenclaw came up with the idea of the Great Hall ceiling (as far as I can remember, anyway) but for the sake of this fic, let's just say it was Salazar.

I hope you enjoyed this nonetheless, and thank you for reading it! Xx