Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. I just own the plot.
A/N: I know I took a while to update, but this chapter was rather difficult to write. The next one may take a while too, as I want the wedding to be perfect. Please read and review.
Chapter Five:
After Salazar and Rowena announced their engagement to a stunned school population, many students noticed a huge change in Slytherin's behaviour. He was kinder, more genteel, and even laughed with the students. He was a changed man, and he laid all the credit for it at Rowena's feet. They sat hand in hand at meals, and he sent house elves with bad poetry to her during class, generally making an idiot of himself. He couldn't help it. His every waking moment was obsessed with thoughts of her, and he was very impatient for the day of their wedding.
Neither one of them was young or foolish, so they felt that there was no real reason to endure a long engagement. They set the wedding for Christmas Eve, and almost the entire magical population of Britain was invited. They were going to host a huge Yule ball after the ceremony, and there were gifts for every person attending. The news that Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw were to wed made huge waves in the community. They were both important people, with many accomplishments and accolades. The two of them were oblivious to all this attention, and while they had many duties and responsibilities, they spent every spare moment together.
When they were not teaching, preparations for the wedding occupied an unbelievable amount of their time. They had to send out the invitations, instruct the house elves on the menu, decide on decorations, and prepare Rowena's wardrobe. Obviously, Godric and Helga were to stand with them as witnesses, and Merlin was to perform the ceremony.
The only disagreement that they had was where to take their wedding tour. Rowena wanted to go somewhere private, where they could spend time together as a married couple, while Salazar, proud over his wife-to-be, wanted to go somewhere more public. He suggested that they make a tour of the biggest cities in Europe, stopping in London, Edinburgh, Paris and Rome. Rowena was displeased, but when she saw Salazar about to get upset over the issue, she decided to back down. She most definitely did not want a repeat of the first month of the school year.
In time, things settled down a little, and the two of them were able to focus enough on their duties to aid in the selection of the two prefects. The four founders selected a happy-go-lucky blonde boy in the fifth level, who was a favourite student of Gryffindor and an excellent Quiddich player. The other student was a sixth level, a tall solemn girl with raven hair named Hypolyta. The girl was a protégé of Rowena, and the two of them had spent many hours in the library discussing new magical healing techniques. Hypolyta's dearest dream was to become a renowned healer, and Rowena intended to see that she attained her goal.
The All Hallows Eve feast was even more magnificent than the start of term feast had been. By this time, the students and teachers had settled into their routines and much of the nervousness apparent at the start of the year had now dissipated. The adults of the castle had spent many hours decorating the Great Hall for the feast, and the house-elves had gone to extremes in the kitchen, making sure that the food was the best available, and exquisitely prepared. The children took their seats and the teachers announced the first two school prefects to the student body. Helga addressed the school and told them that based on their exemplary behaviour over the previous months, the students would be allowed their first visit to Hogsmeade village in two weeks time. The four teachers, who would patrol the streets and make sure that no one was lost, injured, or engaged in any mischief, would supervise this visit. Helga and Godric's spouses would remain at the school with any students who did not wish to go. There was a buzz of conversation at this announcement, and for the next two weeks, the students tingled with repressed excitement.
The day finally arrived. The ground was covered with a light dusting of snow and there was a nip in the air. Virtually the entire student body had signed up to go to Hogsmeade. Helga stood guard at the gates and checked the names of everyone against her list as they left the school grounds. Godric and Salazar took up positions along the path to ensure that no student went astray, while Rowena went on to the village to greet the students as they arrived. Once all the students were within the village boundaries, the teachers patrolled the street, breaking up any disagreements and occasionally going inside a shop to make sure that the students were well behaved. As this first visit was a bit of an experiment to make sure that the students could be trusted on their own, the teachers took no chances.
After several hours had gone by with no real problems, the teachers left the prefects in charge and went into the Hogsmeade Inn to say hello to their friend Rosie. They had been out of doors for some time and wished to warm up a bit before escorting the students back to the school. The ladies ordered some tea and the men tankards of mulled mead, but just when they were about to sit, Hypolyta came running in, breathless.
'Please come quick! There's been a student injured!' She shouted, as the teachers grabbed their cloaks and ran out the door after her. At the boundaries of the village, they found a little boy, one of the youngest students, lying on the ground with a wound to the head.
'What happened here?' Demanded Godric while Helga and Rowena examined the nasty bruise to the boy's left temple.
'I'm not sure. I heard some yelling, and as I came up the boy was on the ground, cradling something. Several other boys were running back to the village, but I don't remember which ones. I found him just like this, and came to get you.'
'Godric, this boy has been attacked. This bump on the head appears to have been made by a flung stone, and there are other bruises and abrasions on him as well. We need to get him up to the castle, and quickly.' Said Helga, finishing her examination of the child.
Godric's face hardened. He turned and headed off to the village to round up the students and escort them back to the school. Rowena conjured up a stretcher for the child, and Helga took him up the path. Hypolyta looked close to hysterics, and while Rowena tried to calm her, Salazar examined the ground around where the boy had fallen. Suddenly he stopped, and bending down, he picked up a small snake that had hidden in a clump of leaves under a bush. Rowena gasped. The snake also showed signs of injury, and Salazar seemed more concerned over its welfare than that of the boy. She almost thought she could hear him hissing softly at the thing. Without a word, he cradled the snake in the crook of his arm and covering it with a fold of his cloak, headed up to the school.
Godric came back up the path to where Rowena and Hypolyta were standing staring up at Salazar's retreating back.
'Where is he going?' asked Godric, looking up at Salazar.
'Up to the school. I'll explain on the way,' responded Rowena. They and the two prefects took up positions around the students, and they proceeded in a grim march back to Hogwarts.
When the arrived, the students were escorted to the Great Hall and left under the supervision of the prefects and a contingent of house elves. They were under strict instructions that the students were not allowed to speak with each other until the teachers returned from checking on the injured little boy.
In the infirmary, Helga had already healed most of the little boy's injuries, though the bump on the head would need a poultice and bandage for a few days. The boy was a first level named Seth, and he was still unconscious. She was now examining the little snake that Salazar had brought up to the school. When Rowena and Godric arrived, Rowena asked Salazar what he had been doing with the snake.
'I was asking it what had happened,' he responded, to looks of surprise.
'You were… talking… to a snake?' Said Rowena in disbelief.
'It's not something that I have widely advertised, but I can converse with the beasts. It has come in very useful on occasion. I thought that this one might know what happened to the child.' He replied.
'And did it tell you anything of value?' asked Godric sarcastically. 'After all, serpents are not known for being the most trustworthy of creatures.'
Salazar looked shocked and angry at this. 'If you must know, snakes are very loyal, but only to those they trust. Most of the time, they have no use for us, but this one is very young and apparently Seth found him last week and befriended him. According to my little friend, the boy had let him out for some air during the visit to the village. Three older boys found him and were throwing rocks at him when Seth arrived and tried to defend his friend. They boys then attacked Seth as well, and he was hit with one of the stones.'
Through their shock at this story, the others were intrigued. In spite of how long they had known their friend, this was the first they had heard of his unusual ability. They also realized that depending on how well the little snake could communicate, Salazar's ability could be very useful indeed.
'Is it possible… do you think… perhaps, could the little snake identify the attackers?' asked Helga.
'I think so. The little one is tired at the moment, and needs to rest. He trusts me, so I will care for him. In a few hours, when he is ready, I will ask that he identify the ones who did this. I do think that we need to give him a name though. He was first befriended by young Seth, and in snake language 'friend of Seth' would be Ni'Seth. It will do as well as anything else for the moment.' The little snake purred its acceptance of the name. Godric in particular was surprised at the snake's comprehension of human speech. Getting over his surprise, he started making plans.
'Very well. I will go to the Great Hall and address the school. If the ladies will assist me, I think we should question all the students as well, just in case Ni'Seth cannot identify the ones responsible. Considering the nature of what happened, I think that the visits to Hogsmeade need to be reconsidered for the time being. Perhaps later on we can establish some rules and guidelines for Hogsmeade visits that will prevent this sort of thing from happening again in the future. Shall we ladies?'
Godric, Rowena and Helga headed out to the Great Hall to talk with the children. Most of the students were bewildered as to why the visit had been cut short, and why they were all congregated in the Great Hall in silence. The three teachers walked in to the room and stood at the front of the hall to speak. Godric took the lead, with Helga and Rowena in support positions behind him. As Godric rose to speak, the students could tell by his expression that something gravely serious had happened. Godric explained that one student had been deliberately injured by other students during the visit to Hogsmeade, and that they would be interviewing each student individually to determine who was at fault. The proclamation that there would be no further visits to the village until the perpetrators were caught was met by exclamations of shock and dismay, for most of the students had enjoyed the visit and had been well behaved. Godric encouraged those who were responsible to come forward on their own and admit the transgression. He explained that there had been a witness to the attack, (though he glossed over the peculiar nature of the witness), and the students were informed that the punishment for any person who came forward on their own would be far less than if they were identified by others.
Once Salazar joined them, the teachers began questioning the students one by one. Salazar patrolled the Great Hall making sure that the students maintained decorum. Ni'Seth was curled up on his shoulder and in reality his walks up and down the tables were to give the little snake a chance to get a good look at the face of each student. They reached a group of third level boys that were sitting clustered together. The boys looked up into Salazar's stern face with apprehension. Ni'Seth leaned in and hissed into Salazar's ear. The boys flinched when they noticed the little snake perched on the teacher's shoulder. Salazar nodded and made to move on to the next group of students. Two of the boys looked relieved as the teacher moved on, but one of them lost his nerve.
'Professor?' he said tentatively.
The other students around him stared, and his two friends glared at him and tried to shush him, but it was too late.
'Yes?' said Salazar, turning to look at the boy. He was rather small for his age, with large brown eyes and mousy hair. Compared to the other two boys, he was miniscule, for they were easily the biggest students in their class. His name was Royson and he was a son of one of the wealthier families of Britain. The others were also from wealthy families, and the three had been friends before coming to Hogwarts. From the looks that the other two were giving him at that moment, they greatly desired to take full advantage of their larger size over him at the next available opportunity. Salazar gave them a look that plainly said he had noted their identities and that there would be a reckoning later.
'Is it okay… I mean, could I possibly speak with you and Professor Gryffindor next please?' Royson asked timidly.
'I think that can be arranged. Please come with me now.' The boy stood up and with the whole school watching, followed Salazar out the door to the office where the questioning was taking place. As soon as they were outside the door, the Hall erupted in the noise of a hundred children all talking at once. The prefects tried to get everyone to quiet down while the students near the two remaining boys gave them a wide berth as they sat alone, exposed in their guilt.
Salazar and the student who had come forward went into the nearby office and spoke with Godric. Royson held nothing back, and said that he and the other two had found the little snake and wanted to have some fun teasing it. They didn't realize that Seth had befriended the snake and when he came running to its defense, the other two had proceeded to tease him as well. The boy claimed that Seth had few friends, and that the two had marked him early on as a target. According to his story, they picked on Seth at every opportunity, mainly because he came from a poorer family than theirs. When asked why he didn't come forward earlier, Royson claimed that his friends had threatened him into silence.
The teachers weren't sure how much of this story could be trusted, but Ni'Seth had pointed out the other two boys first, and after being questioned, the little snake corroborated Royson's claim that he had not participated in the attack, only watched. Royson was given detention, and was told that a letter would be sent to his parents regarding his misconduct. The other two boys were called in, and they flatly denied any involvement, and loudly proclaimed their innocence. They were told that they had been identified as the main attackers, and they were suspended until the winter term. The teachers contacted the parents of the two boys, and were told to pack their things.
The suspension of the two main culprits caused the rest of the school to be very subdued. For the next several days, as young Seth recovered under Helga's care, everyone was on his or her absolute best behaviour. No one even spoke in anything much over a whisper. After Seth was released with a full recovery, and Royson had done his detention, the shock began to wear off, and the school returned to normal. One day in late November, after things had settled a bit, Royson made his way over to the table where Seth was eating his breakfast.
'Seth? I just wanted you to know… I'm so sorry for what I did. I never thought anyone would get hurt. I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier.' Royson stared at his feet, unable to look Seth in the face.
Seth looked at Royson and saw the regret in his face. Being a kindhearted boy, there was only one course of action for him to take.
'Don't worry about it, these things happen. I think that those two hurt you nearly as much as they hurt me, so let's forget it shall we? Anyway, the bacon looks particularly good this morning, would you like to join me?' The look of relief on Royson's face could not be mistaken, and from that day, they were friends.
After the issue of the botched visit to Hogsmeade had run its course, the focus of gossip at the school returned to the upcoming nuptials of two of the school's founders. The wedding was now only one month away, and none of the students wanted to miss it. Ni'Seth was now a fixture on Salazar's shoulder as they prowled around the school. Salazar's life could not be any more busy as he taught class, made wedding preparations, and in his few spare moments, arranged for some special gifts to give to his best friends at the ball. Though he was looking forward to his upcoming wedding, and loved Rowena almost to distraction, he was nervous about being a bridegroom. As with the start of term feast, he felt that he was approaching an event for which he was not well equipped.
Through the month of December, the tension reached a head until finally the day was almost upon them. The Christmas exams had gone extremely well, with most students attaining good grades. The entire student body looked forward to the wedding, and the blissful two weeks of holidays that would follow. On the eve of the wedding, Rosie sent word from the Hogsmeade Inn that she was at full capacity, and the school was almost full to the rafters with wedding guests as well. During dinner that evening, Salazar and Rowena could not eat so much as one bite, and kept stealing glances at each other. Ni'Seth seemed to have no worries, and lapped at a saucer of milk on the table near Salazar's plate. Helga was going to spend the night with her friend, keeping her company, while Godric would be staying with Salazar. Godric jokingly said that he would be spending much of the night trying to keep Salazar from constantly throwing up, but he seemed to be the only person to find this funny. After dinner was over, the students were sent to bed and Rowena and Salazar spent a precious hour together before retiring themselves. They exchanged a lingering kiss under the mistletoe hung in the staff room, and then proceeded to their chambers. They would not see each other again until the ceremony.