Disclaimer: Again, not mine.

A/N: Thanks very much Rae Roberts! I'm flattered. As for the Latin 'motto's', they are 'I think therefore I am depressed', 'Isn't it cool?' (sort of) and 'I don't care!'

Chapter 4

So much for relaxation, Rowena thought as she heard an anguished howl fill the air. Five minutes to get on with her astronomy charts wasn't that much to ask, was it? Apparently so. Getting up, she wondered what Godric had done this time.

Surprisingly, when she got outside to assess the damage the Saxon wasn't anywhere in sight. Just Helga, sitting underneath her usual tree, looking slightly more frazzled than usual. Then again, she really did have reason to be so; whilst all of them were busy setting different things up; Salazar, the finances; herself, the Curriculum and Godric, the provisions which was proving harder than originally thought. Yet it was Helga who seemed to have the most difficult task of all at times; actually finding and contacting the potential students about their education here at Hogwarts.

"What's the matter?" Rowena asked as she sat down next to the Viking woman.

"Oh just everything." Helga really had calmed down over the months since they'd moved up to the castle, although, as Rowena noticed the axe buried deep into the trunk of the tree a moment later, she still had a long way to go. "I haven't heard back from even one of the families I sent messengers out to about letting their children join the school. And if the landowners aren't replying, Odin knows what the peasants will be like."

"These things take time Helga, give it another week and then the messengers will be back, remember how long it took for us to get up here? And we had better weather conditions for that."

Helga sighed, "It's not that. I know it will take them a long while to return, it's Godric."

"What's he done now?" She knew he had to figure into it somehow; it wasn't as if the two didn't get along, it was just that they had such strong personalities. It was inevitable that they'd clash sometimes.

"He suggested that this task was too hard for me, and that I'd be better dealing with the provisions and taking care of my children more. How dare he tell me I'd be better off stuck in the kitchens, bare-footed and pregnant!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." Although, Rowena thought, he probably did. Unlike her own and Helga's culture, Godric's was a bit more male-orientated and he was still adjusting his world-view to fit in with the others'. Besides it wasn't as if Inge and Pedar Hufflepuff, Helga's children, weren't old enough to take care of themselves. Her son Pedar was actually courting one of the girls from the local village, whilst Inge, her daughter was helping Rowena out with the basics of the curriculum. While Rowena was excellent at the more complicated subjects, she was too impatient to teach the basic Numeracy and Literacy lessons that would no doubt be needed. Inge was a godsend there, she was calm and collected, rather the opposite of her mother really. "Was he the reason for that howling I heard earlier?"

"He was." Helga did cheer up a little at that answer, looking a little smug, Rowena thought.

"What did you do to him?" He looked ridiculous enough with his burnt beard; she just hoped it wasn't anything serious.

"Oh nothing permanent, don't worry."

"Helga, what did you do?" Her voice was sterner now.

Cautiously the other woman opened up a fist that Rowena hadn't even noticed was clenched. In it was a rather large shock of curly, brown hair. Hair that matched Godric's.

A hand flew up to Rowena's mouth to stifle a laugh, "You didn't."

"He'll remember next time not to insult me like that."

"Will he?" Rowena was dubious, it wasn't as if Godric did it on purpose but he was very talented at putting his foot in his mouth, normally not realise he'd said anything wrong till he saw the insulted person's reaction. No doubt he'd say something else wrong by the end of the week.

"Probably not," Helga conceded, smiling, "But at least I got my revenge for this one."


Salazar sat with Rowena in the vast library, only about a tenth-filled with books at this time, pouring over budgets for the different lessons when Godric wandered in.

"Ah there you are, our friend down in Hogsmeade wants a higher payment for the crops he's sending us, he says... what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"When did you get that hat, Godric?"

Salazar's question was quite innocent; neither of the two women had told him about the incident with the axe last week.

"I've had it ages."

"But it looks new."

"Look, stop changing the subject, can we afford to pay him more?"

"You started the topic, not me. All I did was look at you, and no, we can't. I'll talk to him tomorrow about it, work something out."

"Flabra." Rowena couldn't resist, the hat was only loosely on anyway and it fell rather easily even in that slight puff of wind she made. And Godric really did look funny trying to catch his had as it dropped, she hadn't seen him flap like that since he'd run too fast down that frozen corridor on the southern wing.

"Godric! What have you done to your hair?" The large bald spot just above his left ear was more than a little noticeable.

"I don't want to talk about it." Godric grabbed his hat, jammed it back on his head and stormed out leaving an amused Salazar and a giggling Rowena behind.

"Rowena, what did you do?"

"Not me," she said amongst laughs, "Helga."

"Did he deserve it?"

"Oh yes."

"That's all right then. Still, it's a nice hat. Looks very hard wearing..."