One week later Godric still had nightmares. He would thrash about in the tent till Rowena would come in bleary eyed and tell him to "stop acting like a four year old Godric and forget what happened." then Salazar would laugh and Helga would giggle and he would glare at them. Then the girls would go back to their tent. But not that night.
Godric woke to Rowena shaking his shoulders gently; he looked around tiredly and sat up. Helga was trying, and failing, to wake up a fast asleep Sal who was muttering in his sleep.
"Yes mother, I would like butter on my toast." Salazar murmured.
"Wakey wakey Sally!" Godric said loudly and boisterously. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them out from under Salazar.
Salazar yelled. His black hair was untidy and he was very annoyed. He scrambled up and brushed off his sleep-robes.
"Come, you two, we must talk." Rowena said. She was dressed in her dark blue nightgown, her long hair was back in a braid and she spoke softly, as if in a dream. She was very tired but it was nearly dawn and well, the expression was "seize the day." When the four were in a circle by the lake she began to speak.
"We need to discuss the school. What shall we call it? What should it look like? What classes do we offer? Who will teach them? Who will attend? How long will they attend? What safety precautions will we--"
"Ro, I think we need to think about these one at a time." Godric said reasonably.
She sighed. "You know, I really hate it when you're right."
"Ooh! So do I!" Salazar said. Godric laughed.
"How about we explore for a bit?" Godric asked, he was always the adventurous soul. "I shall go North, Sal South, Rowena West and Helga East."
"That sounds good, that way I can avoid the lake!" Rowena said cheerily.
The four split up.
Helga wandered toward the lake. It seemed perfectly normal and pristine at the surface but who knew what enigmas lurked beneath the glass-like top? She saw a bird leave its nest and she started. She took a deep breath and veered towards the south edge of the lake, away from the sinister looking cliff Please don't let me fall in she thought. She found the scenery rather pleasing on the edge of the unknown forest and continued walking along.
Rowena walked away from the lake and came to a garden. Helga will love this she thought and looked around. There were all kinds of flowers but the ones that caught her attention were four large blooms in the center. The first had alternating blue and bronze petals. My favorite colors! she thought. The next was red and gold. Godric's! The one after that was yellow and black. Helga's! And the last was silver and green. Sal's, isn't that something to think about.
Godric stood at the base of the cliff, he took a step forward and bean to climb the old, slippery steps upward. When he reached the top what he saw amazed him. A giant castle speared out before him. He now knew why anyone bothered to build steps up the cliff. He wondered briefly if anyone was living there but it looked utterly abandoned. Godric Leslie (yeah laugh all you want) Gryffindor grinned, he was going to enjoy exploring this place. Yep, as sure as his socks were purple polka-dotted.
Salazar entered the forest, it was so big and scary, but he was a big boy and wouldn't freak out about the creepy shadows that the trees cast and the occasional rustle of the bushes. He didn't like it one bit. All of a sudden there was a rustling in front of him. He froze terrified. He turned, but he realized he had nowhere to go. He was lost. He turned to face whatever had made the noise. He screamed, loudly.
The other three heard his scream and rushed into the forest, battling the thorns and underbrush. When they reached Salazar he was down on his knees, praying to Merlin out loud and his eyes were squeezed shut. Next to him with its fluffy little head cocked, was nothing more than a mere bunny rabbit.