A Founder's Torment
They are gone. They have left me, abandoned me. I grow weaker after every breath.
Rowena Ravenclaw rested in bed, her breathing shallow as she slept. Godric and Helga hovered nearby, watching their friend. They hoped beyond hope that she could hold on just a bit longer, hold on to the one thing she knew she had left.
The Baron was supposed to return tonight with Helena, and they knew that to see her daughter was exactly what Rowena wanted most of all. She looked so forlorn, racked with the pain of this illness. She looked so frightened and fragile as she slept.
They had sent an owl to Salazar that morning, knowing that the gesture was useless. He had never answered mail, never deigned any letter important enough to open. If the subject was important, Sal expected the news to be relayed to him in person. And as neither knew where he lived these days, reaching him would be impossible.
Not a one of them knew that Salazar Slytherin had died, a year ago today. None knew that he had never so much as received the letter informing him of Rowena's illness and desperate need to see those people who had meant most to her. He would never know that the only reason that letter was sent was because Rowena had insisted upon it.
Rowena shuddered a little in her sleep as a light breeze came through the window. Helga put a blanket on her, ushering Godric to shut the window and block the breeze. Rowena coughed once and turned over, lost in her memories.
She was walking across the grounds, watching idly as Salazar and Godric practised duelling. Godric ran back, casting his spells over his shoulder, while Sal strolled about, lazily flicking his wand in his friend's direction.
"How can he be so casual about that? I know they are only practising, but he should really take this more seriously! Godric may be playful at heart, but he can be a threat when he wants to be," Helga sighed in admiration while Rowena repressed a laugh.
"That is just how Sal is. He is always calm, always in control of his emotions. You know, ever since Helena's father died and Sal's wife left him, I have come to realise just how much I care for him," Rowena said, as if discussing the notions that grass is green and the sky is blue, trying not to sound embarrassed while revealing this.
"Really, now? But you know that he still –"
"I know he still loves her dearly. Please do not say her name; I would rather not hear it," Rowena interjected, not wishing to face this fact again.
"Then I shan't. You know, Ro, I always thought that Sal was perfectly suited for you. You have such similar temperaments, it is truly a wonder that you would not have met if not for my friendship with Godric," Helga laughed.
"That is very true. If you had not introduced me to Godric, I would never have met Salazar. And if that had never happened, then we would never have built Hogwarts. Thank you, Helga, for the single most important meeting of my life that day," Rowena said.
"Think nothing of it, Ro. Perhaps it can be more meaningful in the future, if those are wedding bells I hear," Helga said suggestively.
"Helga! That is just scandalous! Although I must admit, nothing could make me happier," Rowena mused.
"We just have to convince him," Helga replied, eyeing Salazar as he and Godric circled each other. Salazar had his back to the ladies and did not see the way they looked at him. "Salazar!" She called out, seemingly randomly, as Godric shot a trio of stunning spells in his friend's direction.
Salazar ducked out of the way, turning to the source of the voice. Godric looked on, horrified, as one bolt of red light after the next slammed into Helga's face, knocking her unconscious. The two men ran over as soon as they realised what had just happened. Godric looked stricken, as if he had just been stung by a manticore. Salazar began running a series of diagnostic spells while the other fell to his knees, horrified.
Rowena blinked her azure eyes and rose slightly before hearing Helga's voice. "Hush, Godric, she is waking up," she said in a whisper as she returned to her friend's side.
"How are you; do you feel well enough to sit?" She asked, her blonde curls feebly resting against her shoulders, weighed down by the sweat of worry.
"I'm fine, Helga," Rowena managed to choke out before another fit of coughing besieged her. "Will Sal be here? Do you know?"
"We sent a letter, though we have no idea if he will even read it. We hope that he will be here, but we cannot be sure that he will," Godric said, softening his usually loud voice for Rowena's benefit.
"You will not kill him. You will not kill Sal if he comes to visit me, Godric. I will not allow it," she said, recalling the renewed threat that Godric had given to Salazar just a year ago when he came to see the castle after a decade gone.
"Of course he will not, Ro! Godric would never kill Salazar, would you Godric?" Helga said soothingly, turning to glare at the man.
"No, I would not. Not today, anyway," he said gruffly, avoiding both women's eyes.
"Go down to the Entrance Hall and please look for Helena, Godric," Rowena requested, fighting off another bout of coughing. "Please."
Godric sped down the stairs of the castle, hoping that Helena and the Baron would be walking across the grounds now so that he would not have to be down long. When he threw open the doors, however, the sight that greeted him was not quite as he expected.
Godric opened the door to the infirmary very carefully, closing the door behind him. He found himself staring into those same doleful blue eyes. He was not smiling, which Rowena took as news that her daughter had not yet arrived. Helga returned from the adjacent room, seeing Rowena crying softly, and rounded on him.
"What have you done now? I swear, I leave her alone for one minute, and you come and absolutely destroy her!" She shouted this, embarrassing Godric further.
"Actually," he said, trying to remain tactful. "Helena has arrived."
Godric fidgeted, Helga stopped yelling, and Rowena looked up, not daring to believe her ears. The pale, translucent form of Helena Ravenclaw glided through the wall, locking eyes with her ailing mother. Rowena could not believe it. She stared blankly at the ghost of her one and only daughter.
"Mother," the ghost began, her voice nearly breaking as her grey eyes settled on the frail woman in front of her. "Mother, I wanted to – I wanted to –" she stopped suddenly when she heard her mother gasp and saw her mouth something inaudible, seeing the awareness fade from her mother's eyes, the flame of her life extinguished. Helena Ravenclaw silently floated out of the room while Godric and Helga tended to the body.
"I wanted to apologise, but you would not even grant me that, would you?" The ghost seethed, casting a sidelong glance back toward the room as she floated off in a huff.
Back in the room, Godric and Helga stood, and each looked to the other. "What do you suppose she tried to say?" Godric asked, looking at his one remaining companion.
"She said 'I am sorry'. That was all she said," she wept, as Godric put a comforting arm around her.