Godric sighed as he ate his breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. His meeting with Rowena had definitely not gone as well as he had hoped. He looked down the table to the right past Helga to Rowena's place and realized that she wasn't there. He had expected this. Godric had known that Rowena would not be pleased with him saying that she was a Seer. What he hadn't expected was for Rowena to accuse him of not trusting Salazar. Godric shuddered at the memory.

Flashback

Rowena stared at him disbelievingly. She simply couldn't have heard him correctly. She thought that she had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't a Seer, no matter how intuitive she was. Her dreams, she had recently realized, were stress-related. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them, not now that Salazar had told her there was nothing to worry about.

"Godric," she said. "I am not a Seer. Whatever it is that Salazar has told you about my dreams, has obviously worried you too much."

"But that is just it, Rowena," Godric sighed. "Salazar dismissed your dreams as stress-related. I am not sure how much I can trust him." Rowena couldn't believe what she was hearing. Godric and Salazar were comrades. They were confidants. How could Godric all of a sudden be skeptical about Salazar's trustworthiness after all that they had been through together?

"What are you saying, Godric? Are you saying that there is something going on with Salazar that has caused you not to trust him anymore?" her tone was icy. Godric sighed again. But before he could answer, Rowena was asking questions again.

"What does Helga have to do with this? Why can't she know that Salazar is apparently no longer worthy of your trust?"

"Rowena, please let me explain myself," Godric interrupted. Rowena scowled but didn't say any more. Godric took another breath. "It is my current belief," he began, "that Salazar is trying to get close to you in order to gain more control over the school. You-"

"Are outraged by such an accusation!" Rowena shouted. Godric was suddenly glad that the walls of his chambers had silencing charms all around them. It wouldn't do to have the students hear Rowena rant all night long.

"How in the world did you come to the conclusion that Salazar is trying to take over the school? You two have been friends since Hogwarts began, how on earth could you suddenly betray his trust? Why-"

"I have my reasons, Rowena!" Godric shouted. "I never said that he was trying to take over the school, I merely meant-"

"Well your reasons are no longer satisfactory if they involve you not trusting Salazar!" Rowena said, sounding dangerously close to tears. And with that, Rowena stormed out of Godric's chambers. She needed to find Salazar. She had to tell him what was going on.

Godric, meanwhile, was thinking – rather selfishly - that he hadn't even gotten to the point of what he had wanted to tell Rowena.

End Flashback

Godric looked down the table to his left where Salazar sat. He wasn't there either. Without a doubt, Salazar was in the library trying to comfort Rowena. She was more than likely ranting about how out of line he had been. What he, Godric, had said last night had really hurt Rowena in a way Godric was sure he would never be able to understand. Salazar had been there for Rowena at a time where there wasn't much hope for Witches and Wizards.

Godric himself had never had the inclination to know what exactly it was that caused such a strong bond between Salazar and Rowena, but now he was curious. He doubted whether Helga knew about it. If she did, wouldn't she have been with Salazar in the library trying to tell Rowena that her dreams were nothing to be worried about?

But Helga isn't trying to gain control over the school, Godric thought bitterly. He knew how Salazar felt about admitting muggleborns, as Salazar often called them, into Hogwarts. There had been tension in that area years before the school began. Rowena herself had considered taking Salazar's side but had somehow talked him out of it. But whatever it was that she did, the effect was starting to wear off. It was only a matter of time, Godric felt, before it would be completely nonexistent.


"How could he accuse you of something like that, Salazar? After everything the four of us have been through… I don't know how long I can take this sort of disrespect. Nothing, I repeat, nothing, gives him the right to accuse you of such a thing. It's not as if you were… What are you staring at?"

Rowena and Salazar were, as Godric predicted, in the library. They had been sitting at a table in the back, but now Rowena was pacing in earnest, ranting about how disrespectful Godric had been the night before. He, Salazar, wasn't actually listening. His head was tilted to the side considering Rowena as she paced with an almost playful smirk on his lips.

He had had his moment of anger the night before when Rowena had told him what Godric had said. She had come down to the dungeons to his chambers almost in tears. There, she had told him everything that had gone on with Godric. It was insulting, there was no questioning that, but he wasn't taking it as personally as Rowena was.

"Nothing," he said dropping his gaze to the floor. "I just think that you are overreacting. It is not as if he was saying that it is you that is trying to take over the school." A deep sneer had taken the place of Salazar's previous smirk as he said this. He cared about Rowena too much for him to allow anyone, even Godric, to say something like that to her. He almost hated himself for even suggesting something like that to her.

He looked up at her and she dropped her gaze.

"Now who was staring?" he jeered, his smirk returning. Rowena smiled and rolled her eyes. He always knew how to make her feel better: by being amusingly obnoxious. It was a trait that he shared with many of his students.

"So much for a peaceful weekend," Rowena muttered, causing Salazar to chuckle. She shook her head, a smile threatening to come across her lips. She sat back down and studied Salazar's face.

It wasn't particularly handsome, but what always held her attention were his eyes. They were ghostly pale and even then, Salazar showed most of his emotions through them. They almost literally lit up when he laughed or smiled and glowed mischievously when he smirked or was plotting. When Salazar was angry, you could just barely see tiny specks of green glow in his eyes. It was a private love that Rowena felt for Salazar's eyes.

Unbeknownst to Rowena, Salazar felt a small (at least to him) fondness for her eyes as well. They were a dark but bright brown that was outlined by a thick ring of black. They practically always glowed on her face, causing them to almost stand out.

Rowena didn't realize that she had been staring at Salazar for so long. Her eyes were glazed over as Salazar gave her a questioning look. He finally shook his head and sighed. Rowena would often stare into space after she had finished ranting. It was one of the many qualities that made her Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar loved that about her.


"Godric, you must admit that you were a bit out of line with Rowena last night," Helga said reasonably.

"Yes, yes I know," Godric mumbled. They were speaking in a deserted classroom that was normally used for Potions. It was completely secluded so they didn't have to worry about students finding them. Godric had told Helga what had happened last night. He had hoped that Helga would take his side in seeing that he hadn't even gotten to the point of what Godric had want to speak to Rowena about.

However, she, Helga, was skeptical about whose side she should take. On the one hand, Rowena was very serious in her belief that she wasn't a Seer. She was also extremely close to Salazar, and Godric saying that he didn't trust Salazar was almost as bad as saying that he didn't trust Rowena.

On the other hand, Rowena had overreacted. Though it was true that Salazar was a Founder of the school, the fact still remained that he was rather power hungry. He had caused quite a bit of tension during the construction of the castle about the muggleborns. He believed that magical education should be kept within all-magic families. Naturally, he had been outnumbered, but that didn't mean that he had completely given up on the idea.

Helga turned back to Godric. Her decision was made.

"But I agree with what you have said, Godric. Something must be done."

Godric let out a sigh of relief. Now all they had to do was convince Rowena.