Salazar wasn't known for being a patient man, and every second he spent in that small, messy kitchen overcrowded with house-elves felt like a trial Helga was deliberately making him go through.
"Curse you, Hufflepuff." He said under his breath. The ears of a nearby elf flickered, and the little creature was soon by his side, showering him with questions of how he could be of help.
Salazar glared at it without bothering to hide the disgust it caused him. "Don't you have some greasy pots to scrub? Get away from me, you little pest."
"I was merely asking, young master." The elf bowed his head, but his courteous manners couldn't conceal the impertinent tone of his voice. He turned his back on Salazar and went back to his fellow elves. "Now I see why Lady Helga is always comparing Lord Salazar to a burnt lemon pie. Sour on the outside, bitter on the inside. "
"I heard that!" Salazar got up from his chair so forcefully that it fell to the floor with a heavy slam. He took out his wand from the pocket of his robe and pointed it at the insolent elf as it shrieked and tried to hide behind his friends. The rest of the elves stopped working on their cooking duties and stared in fear at the angry wizard. "I'll teach you a lesson about how to treat your superiors, you impudent—"
"Really, Salazar? That's not the correct way to act in your friend's house, is it?" Helga's voice served as a prelude for her sudden apparition. She materialized between Salazar and the terrified elf, who clung to her gown as soon as her hefty figure became completely material. "Especially when you haven't visited said friend in ages. Look at you, bullying an elf that was just showing you some kindness! You should be ashamed of yourself. Don't worry, little one. Salazar isn't going to hurt you."
Helga said tenderly as she patted the elf's head. He slowly looked up to his dear lady, but his glistening eyes filled with love turned into a resentful glare the second they became fixed on Salazar.
Salazar felt a twinge of anger burning inside his chest. He hoped Helga would scold the elf for even daring to look at him that way.
He should have known that was a vain hope.
Instead, Helga made use of a few sweet and caring words to convince the elf to go back to his work and to forgive young master Salazar, who had a very strange sense of humor that sometimes passed as an overly pretentious and rude attitude.
"No wonder these creatures are so nervy." Salazar said, reluctantly accepting to let the elf go unpunished and putting his wand back into the pocket of his robe. "With a master like you, I guess they know no better, Helga."
"Ah, there it is. A taste of Salazar Slytherin's acidic wit!" Helga laughed heartily. Salazar allowed himself to smile too, but only after Helga's face was resting on his shoulder after she trapped him in one of her characteristic tight embraces. "I've missed it, but not as much as I've missed you. What have you been up to, you fool? Have you been talking to a lot of snakes lately? That would explain why every word you say comes with a generous dose of venom."
"And to think I was actually getting a bit sentimental about our reunion." Salazar said as he rolled his eyes. Slowly, Helga undraped her arms from his neck. "You've always had a knack for ruining the moment, Hufflepuff."
Helga smirked. "And you've always been very sensitive for a man who pretends to be so stoic. That's why I've always said you're like a baked potato."
"Is that so?" Salazar arched an eyebrow and folded his arms. "That's interesting, because before you interrupted us with your presence, your little elves were just telling me about how much you like to compare me to a much less flattering dish. Something about a burnt lemon pie, if I recall correctly?"
"Did they tell you about it?" Helga's said as her smile vanished and her cheeks became crimson.
"You didn't even try to deny it!" Said Salazar in shock.
He had no time to express his offense. In the blink of an eye, Helga turned her back on him and faced the domestic elves. "Did you all forget about our kitchen's golden rule? What is said in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen!"
"Well, the washing sink is not always considered a part of the kitchen, so..." said the same elf that Salazar had been about to attack.
"Oh you. Always with the convenient excuses!" Helga stomped her foot in annoyance, making the elves laugh at her own expense. It was a good-natured, amiable sound that Salazar didn't know was able to come from those lowly creatures' throats.
Though he found it less than acceptable, he allowed the moment between Helga and her elves to pass peacefully without his intervention.
"Well, since you've all become so apt in the sophisticated art of gossip, I think it would be best if Salazar and I continue our conversation elsewhere. Please, prepare some refreshments for the both of us, and make sure to follow the recipes I gave you to make them extra nutritious. Salazar obviously needs it." Helga snapped her fingers so quickly that it was hard to distinguished when one snap ended and the other started. "Come now, hurry up! No slacking in my kitchen! That goes for everyone; especially you up there!"
"I'm not slacking, I'm just making wise use of my energy." Said the domestic elf resting between two cauldrons on a high shelf.
"Of course you are." Helga said as she accepted the arm Salazar offered her. "I haven't heard that excuse before."
Salazar wasn't sad to leave the chaos of the kitchen behind. Once outside, he allowed Helga to guide him through the narrow hallways of her home.
More than a house, it felt like a cave with multiple tunnels. Sure, it was a cozy and welcoming, but that didn't make it a worthy home for a witch as powerful as Helga.
Why she insisted in living that way was a mystery he knew he would never be able to solve.
"...you know?"
"What?"
"I was just explaining why it is rude to not listen to your friend while she is talking to you." Helga said seriously.
"Oh." Salazar looked at her with a respectful, almost solemn expression adorning his face. "Forgive me."
Helga retrieved her hand from his arm and opened the rustic, round wooden door of her room. She chuckled softly, and when she spoke again, her voice had an amused and sweet undertone. "Relax, it was a joke. You're still such a stick in the mud, Salazar."
"Or maybe you're just childish, Helga." Salazar said as he went inside the room after her. "Still, it's part of your charm. Your unorthodox, awkward charm."
"For a moment there, I was flattered." Helga took off the dirty cape hanging from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. "This place is a mess. Give me a moment."
"There's no need..." Salazar said, but Helga was already using her want to tidy up her room as much as possible.
He sighed in resignation. He picked up her cape and put it on a small table together with his own.
He inspected the surface covered with Helga's herbology and medical notes and picked up one of the many pages scattered all over.
Sick muggles and how to cure them without being lynched by a superstitious mob in the process (tentative title, might change later)
A book by Helga Hufflepuff.
Salazar frowned, and for a moment, he wondered if having come to see her had been a good idea in the first place. He looked over his shoulder and stared at Helga.
She worked hard to make him feel more comfortable in her home, even when he had technically invited himself in without any previous announcement.
He had terrorized her domestic elf, and rather than kicking him out from her home, she had shrugged the matter off as if it had been a joke.
He hadn't contacted her in years, and yet, she had hugged him without any restraint, with the same warmness she had showed to him in the past, in the times were they spent almost every day together.
Helga Hufflepuff.
Time had not embittered her heart as it had done with his own.
If anything, the passing years only seemed to have made it sweeter and more understanding.
An admirable woman.
Salazar thought. He looked at the sheet of paper in his hand. His fingers crumbled it into a ball before dropping it uncaringly on top of the desk.
Her talents have been long wasted in these banal tasks. Her tender heart misguides her actions...but I'm here to change that. I can give you a purpose worthy of your abilities, my dear Helga. A witch like you deserves nothing less.
With stern, confident steps, Salazar walked toward Helga as if he was a knight approaching his coveted damsel. Helga's smile wavered when he gently but firmly grabbed her wrist and brought her hand holding her wand down.
Her magic disrupted and her focus broken, Helga heard how a pile of books she was moving out of the way fell like drops of water next to her. She opened her mouth, but no word left her lips.
Salazar's emerald eyes had gained a few wrinkles around their corners, but they had lost none of their mesmerizing energy. She had lost herself in them many times in the past, and this time felt no different, not even if it had been years since she had last done so.
"There's no need for all this, Helga. My visit here has just one purpose." Salazar covered her hand with his. "I've come to see you just to ask you a question. And if your answer is a yes, then we can leave this place together at once. Our fates rest on your shoulders, my dear Helga."
"Salazar..." Helga muttered in disbelief. "You can't...how dare you?"
"Excuse me?" Salazar arched an eyebrow as Helga slid her hand away from his fingers. Before he could say something else, she pressed the tip of her wand under his chin.
Salazar raised his hands up and wondered what he had done to cause his friend any offense.
My long absence upset her much more than I thought. Curses, I knew I should have brought her a gift!
"No, I don't excuse you." Helga stated as she frowned. "How can you do this? You disappear out of nowhere, you don't even bother to contact me or even send me a letter from time to time...I was worried something had happened to you! Muggles are growing more aggressive each day. I thought you had been—"
"You have a very lowly opinion of me if you think those useless creatures could ever harm me, Helga." Salazar sneered, slight dropping his arms, but putting them up right back up when Helga tightened her grip on her wand. "Would you please point that thing elsewhere? I don't want to die by one of your accidental but very lethal spells! It wouldn't be a very fitting end for a man like me."
"On the contrary, it would be a fitting end for a fool like you, Salazar Slytherin!" Helga exclaimed. "You deserve nothing less after asking me to marry you in such a cold and rushed manner. I always pictured this moment as the most romantic of my life...and you soiled that dream! I will never forgive you for this, not even if my answer is a yes!"
It was seldom that Salazar was left speechless. Only his mother and a rather cunning cobra he had met in his travels had succeeded in leaving him with his mouth agape like a simple fool.
Helga had now joined the club, and she was by far the most effective member.
"I don't...I mean..." Salazar cleared his throat and closed his eyes for a moment. "That's not what I've come to ask you, Helga. My business here has little to do with the marital aspects of life."
That sounded better in my imagination. Maybe I have been spending too much time talking to snakes after all...
"Oh." Helga put down her wand. "Of course. I was just jesting, and you fell for it. If only you could have looked at your face...priceless."
She laughed awkwardly, and then turned her back on Salazar. She gave out a long sigh as she covered her face with her hands. Salazar, no less flustered, tried to act as if he couldn't hear Helga's self-directed insults and stood still with his hands behind his back as he waited for her to calm down.
"If only I could go back in time and avoid this conversation from ever taking place..." Salazar whispered, glad that his blood was finally abandoning his red face.
"I'm fine now." Helga turned around. Her attitude was so radiant that it almost made Salazar believe the misunderstanding had never happened. "Let us never talk about this again."
"You stole the words from my mouth."
"I'm glad we agree. So, moving on...what is this question that you want to ask me so badly? I hope you aren't looking for my famous cooking recipes, Salazar. You know I'm as protective of them as you are of your many secret hideouts you have around the world, none of which I know the location of. Not at all."
"A wizarding school, Helga." Salazar put his hands on her shoulders. "The best the world has ever seen. A sanctuary for mages, a place were we all can hone our skills and unleash our true potential. A place safe from the ignorance of the muggles and free from their prejudices! A place that needn't be just a dream or an illusion. We can make it happen...you can help us make it happen."
"Us? Who are the others?" Helga asked Salazar with a bewildered expression in her eyes. Before she asked anything else, Salazar took her hand again.
His grip was more forceful this time, like the anticipated handshake from an eager merchant desperate to close a deal.
"That doesn't matter now. I'll tell you all about them later. All that I care about at this moment is your answer, dear Helga. Will you join me? I can think of no one else I'd rather have by my side during this task. Your loyalty, your patience, your perseverance, your hard work...they would be a great asset to our cause. What do you say? The answer is up to you, my friend."
Helga allowed his words to sink inside her mind. Her tongue struggled to craft an answer, and for a long moment, she remained quiet as Salazar caressed the calloused and scarred back of her hand with his soft fingers.
Neither noticed the intruding house elf that entered the room without knocking. It was the same elf that had been a victim of Salazar's temper.
He gasped and abandoned the room so quickly that the silver tray full with pastries and two big cups of tea almost slipped from his hands. Silently closing the door behind his back, he leaned against it, feeling how his skinny legs lost all their strength.
"There's no doubt about it. This one knows what he saw..." His big eyes widened to the point where they looked as if hey would drop from their orbits. "Master Salazar has just asked Lady's Helga's hand in marriage. Doom is nigh...Doom is nigh!"
He ran back to kitchen, screaming without any restraints and bringing chaos among his fellow elves with his bad news.
I hate those creatures. Salazar thought as he continued to wait for Helga's response. If you weren't so fond of them, I'd kill them all, Helga. Believe me, I would.
My first Harry Potter fic. I didn't expect it to be about the Founders, but inspiration works in mysterious ways haha. I Anyway, thanks for reading!