Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Captain
Prompt: Who's Afraid of the Dark?
Word count: 1,141
I gaze up at the midnight sky, can't find a single star.
There are times when I miss the light, but I'm not afraid of the dark.
-The Dark, Beth Crowley
The sky was dark. Or at least, what Salazar saw when he looked up was only darkness. There were no stars visible through the trees that surrounded him. He sat next to his small fire, leaning against a log and staring up at the dark canopy. It was strange, being alone and not wondering when someone (likely Godric) would come along and destroy any semblance of peaceful quiet. The man seemed utterly unable to let a silence last for more than a few moments.
He would miss that, Salazar realised with some surprise. He would have thought that he'd be glad to get away from the noise that Godric made, and most of the time he was. But now, staring up at trees that blocked even the idea of light, he realised that he would miss the things he had come to know and expect. He had lived with the annoyance of Godric for many years and had come to understand and, sometimes, appreciate it. It was impossible to create such a thing as Hogwarts with three other people and not grow attached to them in some form or another, Salazar guessed.
Rowena would have hated this clearing, he thought suddenly. Thoughts of Godric had led his mind to his other friends. Rowena was a far safer person for his mind to rest on then—he shook his head furiously, unbalancing himself slightly as he did so. The grass was soft as he tilted into it. A flower stood proudly next to where he had fallen and again his thoughts tugged in a direction he couldn't let them go.
If he were to do this, he could not allow himself to think of what he had left behind. He couldn't think of who he had left behind; if he let himself remember and miss, he knew it wouldn't be long until he turned around and walked right back to the castle he had left. He knew he was doing the right thing for Hogwarts and for—for his friends. The tensions had been rising higher and higher and he knew it would only end in misery if he remained.
He wasn't afraid of the path he had chosen. He held no fear for himself. What clawed at his throat and threatened to turn his feet around was fear for those he had left behind. Fear that even though he had removed the square wheel, the problems created still remained. Fear that he had caused the other three wheels to bend out of shape too much to let them become round again. His only solace was that he had left Aurora behind so that she could keep watch over his friends and protect them from any outside harm.
As he thought that, he heard a rustling from the bushes in front of him on the other side of the fire and pushed himself up. His magic curled ready around him and whatever the darkness of night threw at him, he knew he could handle it. Only a second later did the reason for the rustling slither out and Salazar's magic dropped away as panic started to overtake him.
"Forget something while you were leaving the castle, did you?" Aurora asked as she approached.
Salazar stared at her in horror. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" She hissed angrily even as she coiled around him with care. "Or can you no longer think and that's why you left me behind? Why else would you leave me unless your brain had rotted and drained out from your ears?"
Salazar clung to her coils and tried not to sob. It had been beyond hard for him to leave her behind but there had been no other choice. If he could not be there to protect his home, then at least Hogwarts would have a basilisk ready to act in his stead. He was so grateful that she was here with him and so terrified of what that might mean for the others he had had to leave.
"You shouldn't have come," he managed to choke out. "I don't know if I can part from you again."
She hissed at him meaninglessly, tightening her coils in a hug. "Then don't, stupid. Why would you want to be parted from me? I'm amazing."
He laughed brokenly. "Yes, you are. You are wondrous and strong and if I could not protect Hogwarts, I would at least know that it was not unprotected."
Aurora didn't respond for a few moments. She stared at him with her unblinking, shielded eyes before moving forward to nudge at his chin. "Helga is sad," she said finally.
"Yes," Salazar acknowledged. He had known she would be. It had been one of the things he had tried to avoid thinking about in the loneliness of the firelit clearing.
"She would be happy if you returned," Aurora said.
"If I returned, it would cause her more pain in the long run. You know as well as I do that Godric and I have nearly killed each other multiple times in our fights. Sooner or later, one of us would have succeeded."
"You would not have gone unavenged."
He stroked along her length and pressed his forehead to hers. "I know, my love, but even that would bring pain to her."
Aurora hissed in annoyance and flicked her tail up and down a few times. "I do not like the path you have chosen. For yourself or for me."
"It is the only acceptable path I could find," he said with a sigh. "You must return, I beg of you."
Even as he pleaded with her to leave, he clung to her even tighter. It had only been a day since he had last seen her, but it felt like it had been a lifetime. Leaving her had been as hard as leaving Helga. He would love nothing more than to keep her by his side.
"I do not want to leave," Aurora said softly.
"It is your choice now," Salazar admitted. "I have not the ability to leave you again."
Aurora uncoiled from around him and settled herself by the fire. "I will stay with you tonight and return to Helga tomorrow," she decided, her tail twining around his right arm.
"You are far more than I deserve," Salazar said, readjusting his position so that he could lie next to her.
The sky above him was just as shrouded by trees as it had been before, and the fire had reduced down to burning coals. As he stared up at the dark canopy, Aurora by his side, everything seemed lighter despite the darkness surrounding him. He hadn't been concerned when he had been alone, but now he was relaxed and content. He smiled up at the unseen stars and closed his eyes to sleep.