Godric made his way to the Dining Hall after drawing a bath for the guest, intending on informing the others of her presence within the castle walls.
At a round table sat his oldest friends: Rowena Ravenclaw, breastfeeding her baby under a silk comforter; Helga Hufflepuff talking animatedly to her husband, Lord Leith of Hufflepuff; and her older brother, Salazar Slytherin, who seemed to be in deep thought. Godric walked in and sat at his usual seat, between Salazar and Rowena, thinking of how he was going to break the news to them.
Rowena passed her baby to Helga and said, "Good morning to you too, Godric."
"Right, sorry," he replied, smiling sheepishly, "long night is all."
"And I believe that long night involves a grey stallion," she intended as she drew her cup of tea to her lips.
Godric frowned at first, then he said, "Oh right, the horse. Last night, I found a lady sleeping on the bank of the Black Lake. I thought it only right to give her proper chambers before she continued on her route."
As if pulled by strings, both men's eyes turned to the ladies at the table, Leith's surprisedly and Salazar's condescendingly. "Do not stare at us like that, my work and Helga's on making the castle unplottable to Muggles was flawless. It could only have been breached if one of us-" she glared at Godric "-had done it."
"The fact is," said Godric lifting a finger while setting his cup of tea before him, "that your work was not needed. That lady is a witch, whether she knew it before this morning or not."
"And, please tell us, what did happen this morning, Godric?" Helga asked, cradling the baby. "Surely, you didn't scare the poor child, did you?"
"We a'gued fo'a bit," Godric said conversationally as he chewed on a mouthful of buttered bread, "but she came 'round. Now she's having a bath, I'll go check on her when I'm finished eating."
Rowena sighed, "This seems the appropriate thing to do. Would you mind if it were instead Helga and me who would check on her? Perhaps she would be more open to talking to women than to you."
"Fair enough," conceded Godric.
And when everyone thought the matter settled, Salazar spoke up. "And how did you know her to be a witch?"
Godric's eyes lit up, as if he were waiting excitedly to deliver this piece of information. "I think you're going to like this, old friend-" Salazar's eyebrows rose slightly "-because when I found her, she was asleep. And when I tried waking her she started mumbling in Parseltongue."
"Parseltongue?" Salazar inquired skeptically. "Are you sure it was not something unintelligible enough to make you believe that?"
"Completely, because when she woke and understood that I had to do with magic, she was very defensive and said something about knives flying and things of the sort…" Godric said, "I'd bet my sword that she was accused of witchcraft and had run away. Another indication of this is that she bore only two bags, one of which sounded as though it was full of Muggle currency. And she asked me to buy her a bow and arrows with some of that silver."
"This seems quite legit," Rowena complied standing up, "I shall go check on her now, where have you left her?"
"Her chamber is next to mine."
"Good. Helga, would you like to come along?" Rowena asked.
"I will in a bit," she answered gazing at the baby in her arms.
*•*•*•*•*•*
Lola followed Godric in the chamber's bathroom and tried not to seem too curious as he used his stick again to fill the tub with warm water. He showed her to a towel and a bar of soap before leaving, saying he would come and check on her and that she was not to leave her room lest she wanted to get lost.
Lola waited for him to close the bedroom's door behind before she started undressing. As she did so, she peered through the window and saw a breathtaking view of the castle grounds. The hills were white with snow and Lola inwardly thanked Godric for the generous temperature of the water, she craned her neck a bit further and saw the stable where the horse she had stolen must be. She walked toward the window and caught sight of the frozen lake on whose bank she had fallen asleep the previous night.
The brunette proceeded into her bath and, a few minutes later as she was drying her hair, she heard a knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," she called out, thinking it to be Godric; "would you be so kind as to fetch a gown from my bigger bag and bring it to me, Godric?"
"I would, though I am afraid I am not Godric," said a velvety feminine voice.
Lola, who was in her corset and underskirt, came out of the bathroom. Right where Godric once stood was a fairly tall woman wearing a blue, floor-sweeping gown with loose silk sleeves and a bronze-coloured corset, bound with a blue ribbon. On her raven, mid-back long hair sat a silver crown with an oval shaped sapphire in the middle. Immediately thinking of her as royalty, Lola buckled her knees and bowed her head in a sign of respect.
The lady frowned in the slightest before chuckling and brushing the crown with her fingertips, "No need, my friend. I bear no title but that of a noblewoman. My name is Rowena of Ravenclaw."
Lola blinked twice before replying, "L-Lola of Colubrae."
Lola then took the time to look at Lady Ravenclaw's face. She had small, full lips; arched eyebrows; almond-shaped, hazel eyes; and high cheekbones, all on a milky white skin and a heartshaped face. Her smile at Lola was inexplicably reassuring, as was Godric's presence earlier, and the younger lady felt that she could trust this castle's inhabitants.
"Well, Lola, I think we ought to go downstairs for some breakfast. I myself haven't eaten yet."
Lola then remembered that she was in her underwear and so made her way to her bigger bag, saying: "Have you? I happened to think I was quite late for breakfast."
"Oh we are, I was just giving my infant her own is all," she explained, taking a seat on the armchair opposite to the one Godric previously occupied.
Lola's eyes lit up, "You're a mother?"
Rowena nodded distractedly, "Yes, her name is Aquila. Helga should be bringing her here shortly."
"Oh, I absolutely love children," Lola said delightedly.
Rowena looked abashed, "Do you?"
Lola smiled widely at the older woman, "Why yes, they are of such pure innocence and nature. I used to watch over my younger cousins all the time, when I was ten years old."
Rowena seemed to ponder over the idea of actually liking children while Lola slipped inside one of her most accommodative gowns, a simple, light brown gown with long tight sleeves and a square cleavage.
She felt she needed help with the corset of the dress and so cleared her throat to catch Rowena's attention, "Erm, Lady Ravenclaw?"
"Yes, Lola?" She said, pulling herself out of her contemplating.
"Would you mind helping me with my corset, please?"
"Of course not, come here."
Lola went to stand with her back to Rowena and, to her astonishment, she felt her corset tighten from waist to chest all at once.
She gasped and Rowena asked, "Too tight?"
"Too sudden, I'd say," Lola said turning around and seeing Rowena holding one of those fancy wooden sticks Godric had waved earlier.
Rowena understood immediately and hid her wand, "Please do excuse me, Godric had told us about your reluctance toward magic. It was just the force of habit, I think. You do not blame me, I hope?"
Lola bobbed her head, "Oh no, no-not at all. I'm just… Not used to it, I think."
Rowena raised Lola's chin with her forefinger and smiled, "Do you want to get used to magic?"
Lola smiled back halfheartedly before saying, "I will need to think about it…"
"We have all the time in the world. Perhaps you will turn out to be very gifted, who knows?" Rowena said when a knock on the door interrupted them.
"Come in," said Lola after waiting a bit for Rowena to do the honours.
Just then, a man came in. He was taller than Godric, wider too, and had short, black hair. His strong jaw wore a smooth-shaven beard and his lips were the same shade as his complexion. He had fair green eyes and between his eyebrows were two vertical wrinkles that suggested that he frowned often. He walked in and Lola could see he was wearing a black cloak; a blue-green, sleeveless vest, trimmed with silver, over a grey shirt; and knee-high, black, leather boots under which black, leather pants were tucked. Lola could see a golden ring with a black, square stone resting on his left ringfinger. He, too, had a sheathed sword on him and looked ready to leave to God-Knew-Where.
Then he did something that Rowena had not expected, he spoke to Lola in Parseltongue. As if it weren't unusual enough, Lola replied in the very same language and Slytherin smiled.
"So it was Parseltongue, after all," he said in a smooth voice before walking out of the chambers, leaving both ladies in astonishment.
