DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling.
title: Weeding the Garden
by: The Rose in Death's Garden
written for: The HPFC June One-Shot Exchange
pairing: Helaga/Salazar; Godric/Rowena
prompts: romance genre, "I don't like peas", Helga/Salazar
"Why do I have to help weed the garden?" Godric Gryffindor whined as he assisted his friend and fellow Hogwarts Founder Helga Hufflepuff in tending to the school's expansive vegetable patch.
"You could have been helping Rowena stock the library shelves, but you insisted that you would rather slay things," Helga replied, trying to keep a straight face as she said it. "So you are helping me slay these beastly weeds. You are the dashing hero who is saving the peas and carrots that were in mortal peril!"
Godric scowled as he continued to hunt the weedy blackguards, uprooting them and tossing their tiny brittle carcasses upon the pile with the rest of their slain brethren.
"I don't even like peas," he grumbled.
"My goodness, Godric, you would eat nothing but monster meat if we let you!" Helga chided him, unable to keep herself from laughing a bit.
"Don't laugh at me!"
"I apologize for laughing but you can hardly blame me for being amused about the situation," Helga replied. She somehow managed to restrain herself from any further laughter, although she could not stop the grin that tugged at the corners of her lips. "If you are bored by working in the garden, you know you could always return to the castle and help Rowena set up the library."
"That's even more boring than this," Godric complained. "And Rowena doesn't even let me bring my sword in the room with me because she's afraid I'll damage the books if I have it with me."
Helga sighed.
"Well, she does have a point. You have a tendency to swing your sword around without thinking."
They both looked up in surprise as a new voice entered the conversation.
"Salazar!" Helga cried out happily.
"I do not," Godric denied at the same time.
"You do," Salazar replied smoothly, choosing to deal with Godric first. "The library is finished, and Rowena is quite cross with you. Please return to the castle and spend some time with her even if you can do nothing useful."
Godric sprang to his feet and clapped Salazar's shoulder with a dirt-covered hand.
"I certainly shall, my good man. I will see you both at dinner. Farewell!" And he took off at a sprint for the castle without so much as a backwards glance.
Salazar calmly extracted his wand from his sleeve and used a Vanishing Spell to clean the steaks of dirt that Godric had left on his robes.
Having neglected her while dealing with Godric, Salazar now greeted Helga, "Hello, my dear."
"Good afternoon, Salazar," Helga replied, a light blush staining her cheeks. "If you would be so kind, could you help me finish weeding the garden?"
"Of course," Salazar replied. "I could not simply allow a lady to do such work while I stand idly by."
He was too much of a gentleman to say so but Salazar hated being down on his knees in the dirt pulling weeds as much as Godric did. Unlike Godric, however, he was willing to put the desires and happiness of the one he cared about above his own.