"SALAZAAAAARRRRR!"
Honor couldn't help but laugh at the grimace her husband gave as her brother bellowed angrily from down the hall.
"What did you do this time Salazar?" she whispered quietly.
Salazar gave a sheepish yet triumphant grin, "I may or may not have placed a rather unfortunate amount of garlic in his secret stash of ale he keeps near the kitchens."
Honor laughed and finally turned to face her brother, "Godric, I hope the day has dealt you good fortune."
He sent her a hard look before turning to glare viciously at Salazar, "It was you wasn't it?"
Salazar gazed at him coolly, barely keeping a satisfied smirk in check as he did, "It really depends on what it is you're talking about Gryffindor, I could have done a lot of things between last time you asked and now."
Godric looked like to be seriously debating whether or not to hex him or scream, "I am talking about the banners! It was you wasn't it?"
Salazar's brows furrowed, "The banners? What are you talking about?"
Godric glared at him for a moment, deciding whether his confusion was real or no before deciding that Salazar took far too much joy in taking credit for his own disasters to not admit to messing with the banners.
With a sigh Godric shoved a hand through his perfect black hair, "Someone took it upon themselves to play with the emblems on our House banners."
Honor nearly laughed as, immediately after hearing that someone had dared to tamper with HIS banner, her husband's eyes narrowed and he had immediately started walking towards the Grand Hall.
She smiled after her husband before turning back to her brother, "You though Salazar would tamper with his own banner?"
Godric gave a wry smile, "I notice how you have made a distinct mention of his own banner and none other as if you already know he would happily tamper with mine."
Honor gave a helpless shrug, "He seems to enjoy teasing you brother, I think it might have something to do with the way you react to everything."
Godric gave a deep laugh, "He certainly does enjoy making my life a living hell but I suppose I don't mind it as much as I used to," He grinned down at her and pulled her into a quick hug, "I find most things far easier to tolerate now that my sister is here with me."
Honor laughed and struggled to free herself from his bone shattering arms.
"You both looked happy enough together, what were you talking about before I came along?"
Honor froze and a silly grin broke free again, "That's something you'll have to ask Salazar Godric, he was really looking forward to telling you himself."
Godric frowned; anything Salazar was looking forward to telling him was never anything good.
"Godric…."
He turned to his sister with a frown, both suddenly serious, "Yes Honor?"
"I was wondering something… two somethings really…" Her voice trailed off as she looked out over the courtyard through the window beside her.
"Yes Honor?"
"The first thing is…. Well, I was wondering when you and Rowena were planning on leaving for your latest trip to find more students. And the second was I was wondering if there was any way we could…." She looked to be struggling with her thoughts, trying to piece them together and put them into words as it was an idea that had only struck her just then and she had very high hopes that they could get it to work.
"I was wondering if there was any way we could make a place where magic is accepted, a place like Hogwarts only… a place you could go after you leave. These students have nowhere to go but back into a world that is still ready to set them all on fire, they need a place they can go for safety, a city all on its own where they can start off from, somewhere they can work from while they are building their lives before they leave." She looked up at her brother hopefully.
He gazed out the window thoughtfully, "It'd be difficult, a place where they can be safe from the people who would wish them harm…. That's really something but I suppose we could have it arranged. I'd have to talk to the others, complicated magic really but we could do it."
His face suddenly broke out into a bright grin as he snapped his fingers in triumph, "In fact, I know of two places just right off the top of my head that would work for such a place!" He enveloped her in a quick hug before turning and sprinting away, "I've got to get this idea to Rowena, and she'll know how to get it to work!"
Honor laughed and smiled gently, her brother would handle that issue, and any child of Salazar's, magic born or otherwise would have a safe place to turn to if they needed to.
She walked quietly down the hall to her chambers thinking of nothing particular. The students were scheduled to have Rowena test their knowledge when she returned. There were still many charms Honor had to teach the children and many things she herself still had to learn.
She had promised Myyslei (A member of the merfolk clan in the lake outside Hogwarts) she'd visit again soon. Ezra was such a sweet child. She was going to have a child. Hogwarts was safe for the children. Her father could never know of any of them there. Malkin was to be brought to Hogwarts in time. She was going to have a child.
Jumbled thought continued to fly through her head as she thoughtlessly prepared for the night. With a sigh she grabbed a shawl to cover her shoulders so she could continue to ponder her thoughts well into the night as she wandered the halls.
There were many things she couldn't quite place as they crossed her mind, thoughts that were barely formed but seemed important, thoughts she wanted to know.
Why had her father not demanded her return? Why had he let her go so easily? It wasn't as if he didn't know his two children had gone after all. Malkin had made no mention of him in his letters and she still had no idea how she was to be expected to be a mother when she herself had never known the woman who had been meant to raise her.
She sighed heavily and slowly made her way back to her still empty chambers. Salazar had left a letter on the mantle warning her he may not be back before she fell asleep; he had a student to find after all.
She couldn't blame him for being the way he was, he was kind, considerate, and gentle but he had grown older all on his own. He had no memory of his father and his memories of his mother were foggy at best, he had never had anyone to rein him in or tell him what was right and what was wrong and at times he grew easily distracted by the smallest things such as students toying with the banners. It was just the way he was.
But sometimes, being placed second hurt. She had never known true love or affection after her brother left until Salazar had come for her and the times when she was left alone were the worst, they reminded her of things she didn't wish to remember, memories that hurt deeper than any knew.
She stared at herself in her mirror as if hoping her reflection could help her decide what to do. Did she want to have her family with Salazar without her father or did she want her father to be they once were before his liquor mattered more than his daughter's happiness? Did she want a daughter or son? Did she want both?
Did she want to stay in the safety of the castle walls or did she want to roam the world as Godric did?
She reached out and placed her hand over her reflections and sighed, tapping her forehead against the glass, "Please, I can't decide what my heart most desires."
"Then allow me to assist you." Honor whirled around in surprise at the sound of her husband's gentle voice. He moved his wand in a complicated movement and spoke words she neither knew nor understood and then, when his work was done, sent a gentle yet hesitant smile her way, gesturing towards the mirror.
Confused, she turned again to face the mirror and, upon seeing the glass, gave a gasp. Standing before her was a family. Her family.
There was Honor holding a young child and smiling down at her husband who was crouched and speaking to two little boys. He was grinning as he spoke and finally, he glanced up and she watched as his eyes seemed to soften and he pointed towards the her. The two boys turned to face her and she felt tears fall from her eyes as she saw their faces.
They were nearly identical with their narrow faces and blonde hair, features they received from their father, but they had eyes that were neither their father's nor their mother's. They were a deep gray, like rainclouds that never produced storms. The only differences between the two boys were their height and a birthmark on the hand of one of the boys.
She watched as they waved excitedly at her as her reflection quietly placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, a gentle reminder that the reflection and the one looking in were from different worlds even still.
"Does it help your heart decide?" For the first time in all the years she had known him Salazar sounded unsure, almost scared. She turned to him slowly and with a slight feeling of shame at having ever doubted her life with him she walked to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"My heart has decided to stay with you. I want what I saw in that mirror with you." Her voice was overflowing with emotion as Salazar wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.
"And what did you see?" He tried so very hard not to sound scared, to sound vulnerable. He tried desperately not to sound like he was afraid to lose her to whatever her heart decided.
She pulled away and grinned up at him with tears still flowing down her face, "I saw a family, our family. I want the two little boys and our daughter to run to me to hold her when she is scared. I want you to be a father to the boys, the kind like neither of us ever knew. I want them to come to you for matters they can't talk to me about. I want a family, together. Can I have this with you? Will you have this with me?"
She watched his face carefully, hoping desperately he wanted it too, that he really did want the family as he had said in the hallway just a few hours before.
For a moment there was no change but then, with unimaginable feather light touch, he reached out to take her hands in his and squeezed them tight and she looked down to stare at their hands in surprise, "Honor," Her eyes snapped up to meet his and found a sight before her she had never thought she'd see.
The green eyes of her blonde husband were glistening with unshed tears as a smile graced his face. Tears in the eyes of Salazar Slytherin were something simply unheard of and yet….
"Honor…. I would like nothing more in this life or any other than to spend the rest of my life with you and any children of ours will know the love of our family as they should. Any child of ours will carry within them something no other ever has…" His voice was quiet but strong and Honor knew his words were meant as a promise to both her and himself, "They will carry in them a legacy like no other as the heirs of Slytherin."
Honor grinned up at her husband and then leaned forward into his embrace, "I love you Salazar."
Hey! Its me, the author of this peice of fiction. Please review, it really helps with finding inspiration! Thank you!