Helena knew she shouldn't have been out so late, but it was the only time she and Nathan could get alone together without his brother interrupting and making advances. Standing in the dungeon, she was acutely aware of her surroundings, hearing every drop of water running down the walls, falling into a growing pool in the far corner. Footsteps… not Nathan's. She might get in trouble. Godric Gryffindor? Similar, but not quite.

"I thought I'd find you here, Helena, my dear," came the drawl of Salazar Slytherin. "I just found young mister Wyrmthorn making his way down here."

Helena's eyes widened.

"My mother… please…"

"She needn't hear about this, my dear," he said with a secret smile. "I certainly won't be telling her."

Anyone else, Helena would have been relieved and grateful, but this was Salazar Slytherin. In all her seventeen years, she had never known him to grant favors unless there was something in it for him. The question was, what would he want?

"You know, Helena, if it had not been for the deception of one of my colleagues, you wouldn't have to sneak around like this. It is all very vulgar, rather beneath a lady like yourself."

She didn't miss the accusation he had just thrown at an unnamed founder. Helena could make an educated guess on which one, but even Salazar Slytherin could be surprising at times. He was circling her now, watching her like a snake about to strike a helpless mouse.

"It's amazing to me, Helena, what a beautiful young woman you've grown to be. So lovely, so powerful… and yet," he whispered, "I shudder to think of how far you are from your full potential. If you had been taught according to your learning needs, why, you'd surpass even your own mother for power and importance. Of course," he hissed, as if to himself, "that's what they're afraid of."

"Who?" she whispered breathlessly.

Salazar smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile, it was something like a self-satisfied smirk. Helena was no fool, he was pleased to have sparked her curiosity. He was a man not to be taken lightly.

"My dear, have you felt out of place in your time here? Have you felt as though you don't belong with those you are forced to consort with?"

He was certainly speaking of her sorting, but was he laying the blame solely on Godric Gryffindor, or was he suspecting a larger conspiracy? She wasn't sure what it was, but something about his words made her think he knew something she didn't.

"Perhaps," she said softly, keeping her face as neutral as possible.

"Godric knew you were to be put with a teacher he was afraid of you learning from, so he decided to put you safely with your mother, so you wouldn't be a threat to him. Rather selfish of him, don't you think, my dear?"

Helena tried to be objective, tried to filter his words in her mind, but it wasn't working. Godric Gryffindor had used her for his own little personal war against Salazar Slytherin, and she was horrified. She had spent her entire life idolizing Godric Gryffindor, wishing he was her teacher, wishing he was her father, but he had used her like a pawn in his own personal grudge. Perhaps he wasn't the man she had thought he was.

"What are you saying, sir?"

Salazar could barely contain his smirk at Helena's thinly veiled curiosity. This was almost too easy. Had she been his student to begin with, she would but much better at hiding her emotions, possibly even able to hide things from him. Godric had inadvertently made his using Helena that much easier.

"I'm saying exactly what I'm sure you think I'm saying. Godric Gryffindor realized you were suited for my teaching, and the thought at my teaching someone of your talents frightened him so much that he put you with your mother, where he thought you wouldn't be a threat to him."

Her pretty little face contorted with anger just visible under her mask of indifference. This was easier than Salazar had expected.

"I can help you, you know," he said, shrinking the circle he was walking around her. "I can help you reach your potential, become the greatest witch to ever live. Your mother's name will be a distant memory when people realize how wise and powerful you are. All you have to do is let me teach you."

Her eyes were truly blank. He was impressed. Even in the short time they had been talking, she had improved the covering of her emotions nearly tenfold. What he could do with proper training. He firmly suppressed the excited shudder running through his veins at the thought. He could think about that later. Now he had to plead his case, stay focused, talk her into his corner.

By the end of their cryptic, careful discussion, they had agreed to meet twice a week for "supplementary lessons", and that they would tell her mother they were having tea. Perhaps tea would be involved. For all his enigmatic ways, Salazar had a certain soft spot for the beverage and rarely turned down an opportunity to drink some. It warmed him without impairing his senses, which was incredibly valuable.

Salazar walked her back to her quarters to ensure that she wasn't caught by someone else, and then he retired in his own quarters. Before he climbed into bed, however, he turned to find his own daughter sitting in the corner, arms crossed impatiently, face empty.

"Good evening, Megan, dear," he said sleepily. "What can I do for you?"

"You've been following Helena," she said blandly. "Why?"

Ah, his clever daughter. Very little got past her watchful eyes and sharp mind. He was incredibly proud of her. However, in this particular endeavor would she be an asset, or a hindrance?

"That's none of your concern, dear. It is between myself and Miss Ravenclaw. Did you enjoy your evening with Mr. Wyrmthorn?"

Her smirk was barely evident, but she chose the path he knew she would.

"Which one, father? What are you talking about?"

"Ernald Wyrmthorn, dear. I'm sure you know about Nathan Wyrmthorn's sneaking out to meet Miss Ravenclaw. In fact, I believe it was your job to distract the elder brother's attention while her lover snuck away."

The smirk deepened.

"Oh, father, you make it all sound so vulgar, what with your talk of 'lovers'. If you must know, it was an absolute bore, as most of my life is these days. He, like everyone else around me it seems, could talk and think of nothing but darling Helena Ravenclaw. I'm not sure what makes him think she'll ever marry him. It's not as if they're betrothed."

Bitterness. She did seem to be just a hint jealous of Helena, at the very least. That could certainly be useful, he thought. But he had taught Megan very well… would he be able to use her?

"I'm sorry it was not an agreeable evening."

"What are you planning, father?" she said with a little frown that reminded him very much of her mother. "What do you want with Helena? This isn't about Godric Gryffindor again, is it? Christiana won't ever speak to me again if you keep this up and likely Helena as well. You know how she worships him."

"Change is a part of life," he said softly, watching her eyes puzzling out what he meant by that. "I think you ought to go to sleep now, dear. I've got some very exciting things planned for class in the morning, and I would hate for you to not be at your best because of some silly little conversation."

For several weeks, Salazar carried on, knowing he was being watched by both his daughter and Godric Gryffindor.

Megan was certainly not stupid. Her father was planning something, and from his regular meetings with Helena, it was something important. The trickiest thing was going to be figuring out how to get one of them to tell her what was going on so she could shift it to her advantage.

She hadn't been lying when she expressed to her father her bitterness at the attention Helena received from everyone. Helena and Christiana truly had the attention of everyone Megan could ever hope for attention from. Christiana, with her natural Legilimency skills, her Seer's eye, her striking beauty and Helena, with her clever mind, softer beauty, the sole inheritor of her father's grand fortune and title. It's not that Megan wasn't talented and beautiful. In fact, she was certain she was more talented and beautiful than the lot of them. Somehow, however, she had never gotten the recognition her "friends" had, and she had deserved it.

They sat down at breakfast, ignoring their cohort divisions, sitting at the end of the Hufflepuff table in four, Megan sitting across from Helena, next to Golda. It had always felt like an act of rebellion to Megan, sitting outside of her cohort, not like an act of friendship. Megan liked rebellion.

"I was thinking this morning," Christiana said with a smile, "we should go out for a walk around the lake this afternoon. It's supposed to be nice out today, and it won't be for much longer."

"That sounds lovely," Helena sighed. "It will be nice to relax. My mother has us studying day and night, it seems."

"I noticed you still had time to sneak out and see Nathan," Golda said with a wink. Helena blushed.

Nathan. Ernald. Helena got everything she wanted… everything Megan wanted. But that couldn't last forever. Megan would find a way to turn everything to her advantage, even if it happened to be at the expense of Helena.

She could wait. She would bide her time. If there was one thing Megan's father had passed along to his daughter, it was that if you waited long enough, the object of your ire always presented you with the opportunity to have them destroy themselves with little effort on your own part. Megan Slytherin was no fool. Even Helena Ravenclaw had weaknesses, and all she had to do was wait to properly exploit them.