~~~
Chapter Two - We Need a Truce
~~~
Going out into the hall did little to help them as far as finding out where the sounds were coming from was concerned. Every few seconds, they would hear a loud boom, but it seemed as though it was coming from all directions at once. One of the castle's more annoying properties was that sound carried very well, and as a result, it was nearly impossible to determine its source from a random location.
Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar glanced around, but since sound is heard and not seen, that didn't help much. "What should we do?" Godric asked.
"You're the one holding the sword," Rowena said. "You tell us."
Godric took her hand and closed her fingers around the handle of the sword. "Here," he said. "Let's hear the plan, Thou-who-favors-the-cleverest."
Rowena jerked her hand away, then pointed the sword at his throat.
"I take it back," Salazar said, taking the sword from Rowena and handing it to Helga for safekeeping.
"Take what back?" Godric asked.
"Anything I ever said about them getting married someday," Salazar replied. Before Godric or Rowena had a chance to respond, he said, "So, Helga, how about a plan?"
Helga looked at the sword. "Why am I holding this?"
"So Rowena doesn't slice Godric's head off," he answered. "Now, my dear Lady Hufflepuff, would you be so kind as to provide us with a plan?"
"First, we'll seperate these two," Helga said, and stepped between Godric and Rowena.
"An excellent suggestion," Salazar commented.
"Thank you. Secondly, I think it would be a good idea to find out where the sound is coming from."
Rowena rolled her eyes. "That was why we came out into the hall in the first place, Helga."
"I didn't hear you making any suggestions," Helga retorted.
"That's because Salazar grabbed the sword before I could say anything," Rowena snapped.
"In that case, I turn the floor over to you, Rowena," Helga said. She paused, then quickly added, "But not the sword."
Rowena looked crestfallen.
"Here's an idea," said Godric. "Let's split up. Each of us should go a different direction, and we'll search the school and meet back here in a few minutes. Does that sound good?"
"What if it's something dangerous?" Helga asked. "If it is, then none of us should be alone."
Salazar nodded in approval. "Good idea. I'll go with anyone but Rowena."
Godric grabbed Rowena by the wrists before she could attack Salazar. "You can demonstrate your ability to rip off a man's head with your bare hands later, Rowena," he said.
Salazar ducked behind Helga, then peeked over her shoulder and said, "I'm just teasing. You know that, right?"
Rowena yanked her wrists away from Godric, glared at him, then turned her angry gaze to Salazar. "Check your bed before you get in it tonight, Slytherin, because there may just be a big, huge, hairy SPIDER in it!"
Helga let out a fake gasp and brought her hand to her cheek. "Not a spider!" she said, her green eyes wide with feigned shock. "Anything but a helpless little eight-legged creature two hundred times smaller than I am!"
Salazar's brow wrinkled in surprise, and he rotated his head so he was facing her. "That has got the be the meanest thing I've ever heard you say."
Helga's cheeks flushed pink, and she mumbled something about him invading her comfort zone. He realized that his face was just inches from hers and immediately backed away. "Sorry," he said.
"Is that why you don't sleep at night?" Godric asked Rowena. "Are there spiders in your bed?"
Rowena closed her eyes and counted to three. When that didn't work, she took a swing at him. He ducked, and she lost control of both the punch and her balance. She began to fall, but Godric stood upright just in time to catch her. "You have a beautiful left hook, Lady Ravenclaw, but violence is not the answer."
She didn't reply. She just pushed him away from her, folded her arms across her chest, and held her head high.
Godric sighed and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I love you, too, Rowena."
A long silence followed his statement. A comment from Salazar broke it. "Hey, the pounding stopped."
"Very good, Salazar," Rowena said. "My oh my, aren't we perceptive?"
"You know what?" Helga said quietly. "I think we all need to be nicer to each other. Not just Rowena. All of us."
More silence.
Helga sighed and rolled her eyes. "Or not."
"What happened?" Godric asked. "Between the four of us, I mean. We used to be best friends, and now... well, look at us! Something is here, in our school, and we're standing around here arguing when we should be trying to find out what it is. When did this start, anyway?"
After thinking for a few moments, Helga said, "When we couldn't think of a motto."
"No, I think it started before that," Salazar said. "Remember that day back in April, when I accidentally almost killed Rowena?"
The incident he was referring to took place several months ago. They were transporting stone from rock quarries to build the castle, and Salazar had been moving a particularly heavy stone on top of a small hill with a levitation spell when the amount of dust in the air suddenly made him start coughing, and he lost his concentration. The stone rolled down the hill and almost hit Rowena. Godric had seen it coming in enough time to warn her to jump out of the way.
"That wasn't your fault," Rowena said. "It could have happened to anyone. I think it started when we couldn't think of a name for the school."
Helga smiled at the memory. "That was funny. We spent almost a week fighting about that, and you finally gave up and said, 'Call it Hogwarts, for all I care!'"
All four of them laughed. "I never thought you would take that seriously," Rowena said.
"Now look at us," Godric said. "Smiling, laughing, acting like friends again. I know this isn't the best time or the best place, but we should have done it a long time ago. Let's make a promise to each other, right here, right now, to always be there, to always listen, and to never, ever give up. None of us can do it alone, but together, nothing can stop us." He extended his hand, palm down. "Strength and courage."
"Knowledge is power," Rowena said, and placed her hand on top of his.
"Loyal till the bitter end," said Helga, setting her hand on top of Rowena's.
Salazar placed his hand on top of Helga's and said, "Death before dishonor."
Just then, the loudest boom yet shook the entire castle and nearly caused them to fall over.
"I guess it didn't stop," Salazar said.
"So what should we do?" asked Helga.
Godric and Rowena looked at each other. He smiled at her and nodded. Rowena turned her attention to all of them and spoke. "I think we should go with Godric's original plan of splitting up. We'll cover more ground that way. Helga, you're right about the danger thing, so we'll go in pairs. Salazar, you and Helga go the right. Godric and I will go to the left. The power distribution will be equal that way. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes." Of the four of them, Salazar was the most powerful, followed by Godric, then Rowena, and then Helga.
"All right, then," said Godric. "Let's do this."
~~~
No more booming noises were heard as the two pairs went their seperate ways, which only puzzled them further. What kind of strange happenings were these? An unexplainable, inconsistent sound, and one that shook the entire castle at that. Rowena thought about what could be causing it as she and Godric walked through the empty, quiet halls. The shaking that accompanied the sound probably meant something was hitting against the walls of the castle, something big. It was just a matter of finding out what, where, and why.
"You know what, Rowena?" Godric suddenly said. "I just thought of something."
"What?" she asked.
"Helga still has my sword."
"I'm sure she'll take good care of it."
"Oh, no, I'm not worried about it," he said. "I just realized it, that's all."
She nodded. "That's very nice, Godric. Thank you for sharing."
He thought she was being sarcastic, but her voice didn't have a sarcastic tone to it, which gave him an even stronger conviction that she was being sarcastic. He decided not to mention it to avoid getting in another fight with her. "Any ideas as to what this thing might be?"
Rowena shook her head. "Not one."
They soon found themselves just outside the entrance to the Great Hall. "Well, shall we?" Godric asked, motioning toward the door.
She shrugged. "Why not?"
He walked over to the door, opened it a crack, then shut it. When he turned back toward her, Rowena saw that his face bore an expression of surprise on it. "Godric, what is it?" she asked, hurrying over to him.
Godric swallowed and gave her an answer. "A dragon."
"What's it doing?"
He peeked back into the Great Hall again, then closed the door and answered. "Sleeping."
Chapter Two - We Need a Truce
~~~
Going out into the hall did little to help them as far as finding out where the sounds were coming from was concerned. Every few seconds, they would hear a loud boom, but it seemed as though it was coming from all directions at once. One of the castle's more annoying properties was that sound carried very well, and as a result, it was nearly impossible to determine its source from a random location.
Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar glanced around, but since sound is heard and not seen, that didn't help much. "What should we do?" Godric asked.
"You're the one holding the sword," Rowena said. "You tell us."
Godric took her hand and closed her fingers around the handle of the sword. "Here," he said. "Let's hear the plan, Thou-who-favors-the-cleverest."
Rowena jerked her hand away, then pointed the sword at his throat.
"I take it back," Salazar said, taking the sword from Rowena and handing it to Helga for safekeeping.
"Take what back?" Godric asked.
"Anything I ever said about them getting married someday," Salazar replied. Before Godric or Rowena had a chance to respond, he said, "So, Helga, how about a plan?"
Helga looked at the sword. "Why am I holding this?"
"So Rowena doesn't slice Godric's head off," he answered. "Now, my dear Lady Hufflepuff, would you be so kind as to provide us with a plan?"
"First, we'll seperate these two," Helga said, and stepped between Godric and Rowena.
"An excellent suggestion," Salazar commented.
"Thank you. Secondly, I think it would be a good idea to find out where the sound is coming from."
Rowena rolled her eyes. "That was why we came out into the hall in the first place, Helga."
"I didn't hear you making any suggestions," Helga retorted.
"That's because Salazar grabbed the sword before I could say anything," Rowena snapped.
"In that case, I turn the floor over to you, Rowena," Helga said. She paused, then quickly added, "But not the sword."
Rowena looked crestfallen.
"Here's an idea," said Godric. "Let's split up. Each of us should go a different direction, and we'll search the school and meet back here in a few minutes. Does that sound good?"
"What if it's something dangerous?" Helga asked. "If it is, then none of us should be alone."
Salazar nodded in approval. "Good idea. I'll go with anyone but Rowena."
Godric grabbed Rowena by the wrists before she could attack Salazar. "You can demonstrate your ability to rip off a man's head with your bare hands later, Rowena," he said.
Salazar ducked behind Helga, then peeked over her shoulder and said, "I'm just teasing. You know that, right?"
Rowena yanked her wrists away from Godric, glared at him, then turned her angry gaze to Salazar. "Check your bed before you get in it tonight, Slytherin, because there may just be a big, huge, hairy SPIDER in it!"
Helga let out a fake gasp and brought her hand to her cheek. "Not a spider!" she said, her green eyes wide with feigned shock. "Anything but a helpless little eight-legged creature two hundred times smaller than I am!"
Salazar's brow wrinkled in surprise, and he rotated his head so he was facing her. "That has got the be the meanest thing I've ever heard you say."
Helga's cheeks flushed pink, and she mumbled something about him invading her comfort zone. He realized that his face was just inches from hers and immediately backed away. "Sorry," he said.
"Is that why you don't sleep at night?" Godric asked Rowena. "Are there spiders in your bed?"
Rowena closed her eyes and counted to three. When that didn't work, she took a swing at him. He ducked, and she lost control of both the punch and her balance. She began to fall, but Godric stood upright just in time to catch her. "You have a beautiful left hook, Lady Ravenclaw, but violence is not the answer."
She didn't reply. She just pushed him away from her, folded her arms across her chest, and held her head high.
Godric sighed and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I love you, too, Rowena."
A long silence followed his statement. A comment from Salazar broke it. "Hey, the pounding stopped."
"Very good, Salazar," Rowena said. "My oh my, aren't we perceptive?"
"You know what?" Helga said quietly. "I think we all need to be nicer to each other. Not just Rowena. All of us."
More silence.
Helga sighed and rolled her eyes. "Or not."
"What happened?" Godric asked. "Between the four of us, I mean. We used to be best friends, and now... well, look at us! Something is here, in our school, and we're standing around here arguing when we should be trying to find out what it is. When did this start, anyway?"
After thinking for a few moments, Helga said, "When we couldn't think of a motto."
"No, I think it started before that," Salazar said. "Remember that day back in April, when I accidentally almost killed Rowena?"
The incident he was referring to took place several months ago. They were transporting stone from rock quarries to build the castle, and Salazar had been moving a particularly heavy stone on top of a small hill with a levitation spell when the amount of dust in the air suddenly made him start coughing, and he lost his concentration. The stone rolled down the hill and almost hit Rowena. Godric had seen it coming in enough time to warn her to jump out of the way.
"That wasn't your fault," Rowena said. "It could have happened to anyone. I think it started when we couldn't think of a name for the school."
Helga smiled at the memory. "That was funny. We spent almost a week fighting about that, and you finally gave up and said, 'Call it Hogwarts, for all I care!'"
All four of them laughed. "I never thought you would take that seriously," Rowena said.
"Now look at us," Godric said. "Smiling, laughing, acting like friends again. I know this isn't the best time or the best place, but we should have done it a long time ago. Let's make a promise to each other, right here, right now, to always be there, to always listen, and to never, ever give up. None of us can do it alone, but together, nothing can stop us." He extended his hand, palm down. "Strength and courage."
"Knowledge is power," Rowena said, and placed her hand on top of his.
"Loyal till the bitter end," said Helga, setting her hand on top of Rowena's.
Salazar placed his hand on top of Helga's and said, "Death before dishonor."
Just then, the loudest boom yet shook the entire castle and nearly caused them to fall over.
"I guess it didn't stop," Salazar said.
"So what should we do?" asked Helga.
Godric and Rowena looked at each other. He smiled at her and nodded. Rowena turned her attention to all of them and spoke. "I think we should go with Godric's original plan of splitting up. We'll cover more ground that way. Helga, you're right about the danger thing, so we'll go in pairs. Salazar, you and Helga go the right. Godric and I will go to the left. The power distribution will be equal that way. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes." Of the four of them, Salazar was the most powerful, followed by Godric, then Rowena, and then Helga.
"All right, then," said Godric. "Let's do this."
~~~
No more booming noises were heard as the two pairs went their seperate ways, which only puzzled them further. What kind of strange happenings were these? An unexplainable, inconsistent sound, and one that shook the entire castle at that. Rowena thought about what could be causing it as she and Godric walked through the empty, quiet halls. The shaking that accompanied the sound probably meant something was hitting against the walls of the castle, something big. It was just a matter of finding out what, where, and why.
"You know what, Rowena?" Godric suddenly said. "I just thought of something."
"What?" she asked.
"Helga still has my sword."
"I'm sure she'll take good care of it."
"Oh, no, I'm not worried about it," he said. "I just realized it, that's all."
She nodded. "That's very nice, Godric. Thank you for sharing."
He thought she was being sarcastic, but her voice didn't have a sarcastic tone to it, which gave him an even stronger conviction that she was being sarcastic. He decided not to mention it to avoid getting in another fight with her. "Any ideas as to what this thing might be?"
Rowena shook her head. "Not one."
They soon found themselves just outside the entrance to the Great Hall. "Well, shall we?" Godric asked, motioning toward the door.
She shrugged. "Why not?"
He walked over to the door, opened it a crack, then shut it. When he turned back toward her, Rowena saw that his face bore an expression of surprise on it. "Godric, what is it?" she asked, hurrying over to him.
Godric swallowed and gave her an answer. "A dragon."
"What's it doing?"
He peeked back into the Great Hall again, then closed the door and answered. "Sleeping."