A/N: This is the Seeker from Montrose Magpies writing for QLFC Round 6.
Prompt: Star-Crossed Lovers. Write about a romance that's doomed to fail.
Thanks to my team for looking through it!
Word Count: 1763
Disclaimer: I have no intention of making money from this story, so all the recognizable stuff belongs to J.K. Rowling.
The credit for the name 'Simões Slytherin' goes to my cousin, Arianna Waters. Also, this story uses some headcanons we share, which she has also used in her story, 'A Lamenting Tale of Love'.
Loved and Lost
"I will not be able to hold your Father for long, daughter." Her mother pressed a kiss to Rowena's forehead and gave her a small smile. "Go, I wish you a good life with your lover."
"Thank you, Mother. I bid thee farewell."
Rowena hugged her and the queen left. With Helga's help, Rowena changed out of the wedding gown the other maids had dressed her in and into a vest and breeches—men's clothes. She put her boots on and went to the window, looking down to where Salazar was standing, his wand already out.
He gave her a nod and Rowena climbed onto the ledge. Taking a deep breath to ready herself, she jumped.
"Arresto Momentum!" The beam from Salazar's spell hit her and the spell slowed her fall. She bounced on the cushioned ground a few moments later. "Good to see you again," he said, then he wiggled his eyebrows, leering at her inappropriate outfit, "Princess."
She elbowed him gently, then grabbed his collar and pulled him down into a kiss. "You are most amusing, peasant. Now, help Helga down, quickly."
They made quick work of Levitating the other woman to the ground, two wands working in sync. The red-haired maid huffed and then scowled at Rowena.
"I had to hold myself back from screaming. That was terrifying!"
"You are simply scared of heights, Helga. Now come, we must go. Hopefully, Godric will be waiting for us near the forest."
The three of them moved quickly and silently, making use of the shadows formed in the dusk. A simple charm of Rowena's removed their footprints in the snow. Soon, they were at the edge of the forest.
"You are late, m'lady," Godric said, smirking at Rowena from where he was already perched on the back of a horse. "What should I make of this, a bride making her husband-to-be wait for so long?"
"Oh, hush you, you buffoon," Rowena said, scowling at him. Despite her initial reservations of the Prince, he had proved to be a wonderful ally, and dare she say it, even a friend. Never in her wildest dreams had Rowena thought she would ever like any other royal than her mother, but here she was, able to join with her lover only with the help of a Prince that she'd initially thought ill of. "It is only because of Helga that I bear your presence."
Godric gave her a knowing grin, then climbed down from his steed to greet Helga.
"We should move soon," said Rowena, "Mother said there will only be so much time before someone notices the absence of the bride and the groom." With that, she walked up to her horse and mounted it, the others doing the same, and soon they were moving through the forest and away from the Ravenclaw castle.
They were just at the boundary of the kingdom when a booming voice sounded all around them. Her father must have cast a spell to make his voice so loud it could reach them even leagues away.
The King spoke: "You have deceived me, Daughter, and you run, blind in love for one not worthy of a Princess. I curse, he who thou love shall lose the goodness thou admire, and he shall fall to the Dark. So mote it be."
Rowena felt a shiver run down her spine, but she carried on, following her lover and her friends out of the kingdom.
They had settled in a place Godric knew of from one of his past adventures—a castle that lay in ruins, a thick forest surrounding the place. It had been difficult to fight through the wilderness, but they were safe for the moment, and Rowena was sure no one whom her father had sent in pursuit would be able to find them.
It took them a few months, but the magic wielders were able to bring the castle back to grandeur. Helga had started a garden, bringing in wild plants from the forest and had changed a piece of land into a crop-field to produce for them. Godric and Rowena had summoned their house-elves, and the place had come together wonderfully.
"What shall we do with such a big place, though, dearest Rowena?" Salazar asked her one morning, making Rowena look up from where she had been reading one of the scrolls she had brought with her. "I never asked you, but I am sure you have an objective in mind."
Rowena pursed her lips. "I do, dear Salazar. Only a privileged few get to the opportunity to study magic beyond the spells they require for the family craft, and then also, it is usually only the male children. I wish to change that. I wish to create a place for learning—a school of witchcraft and wizardry."
"That is a noble idea, but who will teach them?"
"You are a master of potions, Salazar. You were the best in the village, and even my family's healers bought potions from you. Helga knows her way around the plants. Godric knows warfare the best—spells for defence and offence, and how to wield the weapons. I know spells and enchantments. Together, we can teach all of this to the new generations."
That evening, they discussed it with their two friends, and the team of four worked to make that idea a reality. Through this time, Rowena ignored the changes in Salazar's behaviour, resolute in her decision to ignore her father's curse and its potential consequences.
The curse continued to blossom regardless, and slowly, the darkness consumed Salazar.
A year later, Rowena gave birth to a son, Simões Slytherin. A month after that, Hogwarts opened to wizards and witches from all around the land.
The number was very small, five wizards and three witches, but the founders of Hogwarts did their best to impart the knowledge. They all had favourites, but there was a pupil Salazar had an aversion to—Alexanda Dayton, a daughter of two non-magicals. She couldn't brew a potion if her life depended on it, so thinking that the cause, Rowena paid no heed to it.
She cherished the evenings spent in the company of her lover and son, and later also with their daughter who was born a year and a half after her first child's birth, and the nights she spent with Salazar. But some days, when she lay awake in her bed next to him, she wondered how long could she ignore the coldness that grew within him.
New pupils came to Hogwarts every summer. Rowena held each child she taught close to her heart, but there were always a few Salazar disliked with a passion. Over the years, the clever witch noticed a pattern—those who Salazar hated always came from non-magical families.
She brought it up, and they argued. She managed to convince him; he kissed her; they smiled at each other and forgot about it.
Yet, the dislike for the Muggleborn, as Salazar liked to call them, continued to fester. Godric and Helga noticed it, too, and it created a rift between the Founders.
"They are abominations!" Salazar said one time when they argued about the subject. "They are filth who should either be turned slaves or executed."
"Salazar!" Rowena was scandalised—this was not a Salazar she recognized. She had fallen in love with a commoner—a man who was kind to all. The man who stood in front of her was full of hatred for innocent children, and in Rowena's ears, her father's curse echoed.
The darkness showed in other things, too. Rowena confronted him about the Draught of Living Death, and Salazar argued that his invention allowed mercy from pain. She asked him about the curses he used in practice duels and taught to his kids, and he argued they had to know how to defend themselves. She asked why he spent his nights in the dungeons, and he made excuses for his actions, but he started coming back to their bed after nightfall.
Rowena fell sick a month later. Her lover and friends tried every cure they could think of, but her condition continued to deteriorate. It was difficult to manage all her duties and take care of two children, and her friends told her to take it slow. Still overburdened and weak, she failed to notice the distance that continued to increase between her lover and herself once again or the darkness that continued to grow within Salazar.
A few months later, her son stood in the queue of pupils to be sorted, and Rowena smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. That evening, Salazar questioned the presence of three Muggleborns, and Godric argued it was their right as witches and wizards. Salazar drew his wand and sent a curse at him; Godric retalied, and the two duelled. Salazar's curses grew increasingly dark. A red beam hit Godric, and he fell to the ground, his screams echoing around the study the Founders shared.
Salazar dropped a spell a few moments later and turned to look at Rowena. "I can no longer stay here, if the three of you choose to entertain the scum!" Then, donning on the cloak that sat on his table, he walked out of the room.
Rowena called after him, asking him to stop. He didn't, and the woman ran after him, only for her legs to give way a few steps later. She fell to the ground, sobs racking her entire body. A little while later, Helga slid down to the floor next to her, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder.
"I am sorry, my dear friend. But, we all knew something like this would happen—this is not the same Salazar you fell in love with."
The curse—it had consumed the goodness in him, just like her father had said. And even though Rowena wished he would come back, deep in her mind, she knew it was better this terrible shade of her lover stayed away.
Rowena continued to weaken, the illness eating at her strength, finally leaving her bedridden. In her last moments, she thought of her lover—the man she had fallen in love and later eloped with. She wished he were here to hold her hand, to wipe her tears of pain, to caress her forehead, but she knew that man was no more.
Her father had killed him slowly, taking him away from Rowena, and she wondered if it would have been better to not love him at all.
Thinking of the man she had loved and lost, Rowena breathed her last.