WARNING: Corporal Punishment
Bill sat at the Head Table, watching the students getting Sorted. It was Hogwarts first ever Sorting Ceremony, and Godric's hat was in the limelight.
It was nowhere near as tatty as it would be in one thousand years. Right now it was a soft gray hat with no stains. The hat of the future would be brownish-gray from years of use. Salazar had jokingly named the hat Scotty because the school was in Scotland, but the name had stuck.
"Ravenclaw, Helena," Helga called out.
Bill had no doubt of what house the girl would be in. That was his first mistake.
"Slytherin!" the hat yelled, causing Bill's eyes to widen. Rowena and Salazar exchanged looks that led Bill to believe that this was unexpected for them, as well.
Helena calmly stood and walked to the table on the far right side of the room, where she joined her classmates.
Several days later, Bill had his first class of seventh year students, one of which was Helena. He had felt rather uncomfortable over the last few days with the amount of attention the girl was giving him.
He, of course, knew he was attractive. How could he not, with the number of women who threw themselves at him in the future, but he hadn't experienced this level of… well… stalker-like behavior from anyone before.
At the end of the class, Helena lingered, packing her bag.
"Did you have a question, Miss Ravenclaw?" Bill asked, sitting down at his desk to go over the placement tests he had given the class.
"Please, call me Helena," the girl replied.
Bill looked up, realizing that her voice had come from someplace a lot closer to him than she had been before. She was standing right in front of his desk. In the back of his mind, he noted that while she looked a great deal like Rowena, she couldn't be more different.
"Miss Ravenclaw, you are my student, and it would be inappropriate for me to call you by your first name. Now, did you have a question?" Bill asked again, sighing slightly.
"No, sir," she replied, still hovering in front of his desk.
"Then I believe you have another class to get to," he replied. "Potions with Professor Slytherin perhaps?"
"Of course, sir," Helena replied, blushing.
Bill only had marked one more question wrong when Rowena entered the room.
"Lady Ravenclaw," he said, smiling stiffly at the foundress. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he said, voice sounding anything but pleased. Ever since the fight they'd had in the armory, Bill had been tense around Rowena, and only spoke to her when necessary.
"Is there some reason why my sister was later leaving this classroom than the rest of her year?" Rowena asked, arms folded over her chest.
Bill rubbed his temples with his index fingers, wondering what else was going to go wrong today. "She stayed to ask me to call her by her first name. I told her no, because that would be inappropriate," he said.
"Hmm," was all Rowena responded with. She quickly left the room.
- - -
That day was just the start of the worst three and a half months of Bill's life. It seemed that Helena was always there, around every corner, waiting on her opportunity to pounce. Bill was beginning to get more and more desperate, and so began spending most of his time in his apartments.
It would have been quite amusing if anyone had seen the man one afternoon in early December, pressed flat against a wall as he peered carefully around the corner. Of course, no one did see him as he was Disillusioned.
He crept along the wall, moving slowly so the slight distortion common with the Disillusionment Charm wouldn't be as noticeable. He was passing the door of an unused classroom when he heard something drop with a thud.
"You idiot!" a voice hissed from behind the door. "Be more careful! The last thing we need is for a teacher to catch us brewing a Class Five illegal potion!"
Bill crouched down to look through the keyhole and was appalled by what he was seeing. It was Helena with a fellow Slytherin, Montague Prince. He was a skinny fellow with sallow skin and hair that was greasy from Potion fumes. According to Salazar, Montague had the abilities to be a first-class Potions Master.
Bill thought quickly. Rowena would never believe him without proof, and Salazar needed to identify the potion. "Expecto Patronum," Bill whispered, thinking of four patroni instead of one. The four eagles that soared out of his wand were hazier than normal, but would still work. They soared away, one to each founder, as Bill continued spying on the odd duo, charming the door so the students wouldn't hear the founders arriving.
Salazar and Helga both entered the corridor from the end farthest from Bill. They both were looking disheveled, as though they had been out flying, their hair messy.
"Been busy?" Bill asked, dispelling his charm.
Helga turned pink, and Salazar merely smirked. "What is going on?" he asked Bill, staring at the door, no doubt evaluating the magical aura emanating from it to determine what charms the curse breaker had cast. Salazar could 'see' magic in a way that no one else could. It was what made him such an excellent Potions Master and Spell Master. A Spell Master being someone who is capable of creating new spells and rituals. Spell Masters were very rare, only one in eight-hundred people had the ability to become one, and only an average of two people in any fifty year period did so.
"Silencing Charms and Alarm Wards, hmm," Salazar said, as Godric entered the corridor. Rowena entered the end closest to Helga and Salazar a moment later.
"What is going on Mr. Weasley?" Rowena asked.
Bill gazed at her sadly. "You aren't going to like this. Godric, can you cast that I-see-but-you-don't spell on the door?"
"Of course," Godric replied. He ran his wand around the edges of the door, chanting as he did so, before tapping the door once in the center. The door became invisible to the teachers, though it would remain a closed door to the eyes of the two students.
Helena was still explaining to the love-struck Montague what she was intending to use the potion for. "Just one strand of my hair," she said, "and Professor Weasley will forget all about my perfect sister!" she spat the last two words. "I look enough like her that it will hardly surprise anyone when he turns to me, the main difference between her and I being that I actually show my interest in him instead of hiding it by bickering with him all the time."
"B-but, Helena," Montague said. "Are you sure you want to be with him?"
"Who are you – my mother? I'm going to marry him. Do you know how much money he has? He's nearly as wealthy as Lord Malfoy, and twice as handsome," she said, looking dreamy eyed.
Montague looked slightly ill, but was so besotted with Helena that he would and did brew Amortentia for her to use on a professor.
"Amortentia is going to get me exactly what I want," Helena said smugly.
"Or not," came from the door which now stood open. Rowena stood framed in the doorway, the disapproving gazes of the other three founders and Bill all focused on Helena.
"Evanesco!" Salazar said, waving his wand at the potion, vanishing it. "I have never been more disgusted in my life. To think that two of my students should stoop so low! Where is your honor? Montague," he snapped at the boy. "You will return to your common room. I will deal with you later," he hissed, sounding eerily like a snake.
Montague scurried past the professors like a frightened mouse, though his face resembled nothing so much as a cat's just before the animal would slink off in embarrassment.
"She is your sister, Rowena, I defer to you," Salazar said.
Rowena stared at Helena, disappointment, sadness and anger in her gaze. "You may give her whatever punishment you deem appropriate, then Bill shall give her his punishment, as it was him that she intended to dose. I shall punish her last. What she intended to do was against the law, and it is only because she is my sister that I won't turn her in to the Ministry of Magic," Rowena said.
"Very well," Salazar said. "For my punishment, you shall lose two hundred points, and have detention every other night for the rest of this school year, as it seems we cannot trust you to stay out of mischief. Your first detention is tomorrow night at precisely seven o'clock, and when you arrive, you will give me a five foot essay on why Amortentia is illegal and what the punishment for its use is."
Helena gulped, it was only December so she'd be spending half the year in detention.
"Might I also suggest the cessation of her Hogsmeade visits as well," Helga said.
"Done," Salazar said, smiling down at the blonde witch, who stood at his elbow.
"And perhaps a public apology to Bill in the Great Hall at dinner tomorrow," Godric said, arms folded as he glowered at Helena.
"Excellent idea, Godric," Salazar said.
"And how shall you punish her, Bill?" Rowena asked, not realizing that she had referred to him by his first name twice already.
Bill looked thoughtful for one long minute before saying, "When I was thirteen, I made the stupid mistake of going somewhere that was forbidden and for a very good reason as well. I was unfortunate to run into a very dangerous evil wizard, who was about to murder me when someone I had never liked stopped him and gave me time to escape. That same person wrote my parents that night, informing them what I had done. I had never seen my father mad until then. My punishment was grounding, chores, and one hell of a spanking. Helena has already been given the first two, so I shall give her the third." With that, he marched over to the girl, dragged her toward a bench where he sat, before pulling her over his knees and spanking her. When he was done, he pushed her off of his lap, making her land butt-first on the floor.
Rowena stared down at her sister, who was sniveling pathetically despite the fact that he hadn't been striking her all that hard at all. "Get up off of the floor, Helena," she said. "Since mother and father died three years ago, it would seem that I have been too lax with you. No more. From now on you will be confined to my quarters; I will have your things moved up from your dormitory. You will not leave my rooms except for class, meals, and detention. If you wish to go to the library, you must ask me for permission. If you wish to get a snack from the kitchen, you must get permission. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"
"Yes, Rowena," Helena said, pale as a ghost.
Rowena sighed, she didn't want to do this, but she must. "Furthermore, as it is clear that you are incapable of behaving like a lady when it comes to men, I shall be arranging your marriage to Baron Stark's eldest son."
"Not him!" Helena whined. "He's so pathetic! He's not good looking at all, and I don't know how he got into Salazar's House as he certainly isn't cunning or witty."
Salazar smirked. "There is more to him than you think, child," he said.
Helena shook her head. "Absolutely not. I refuse to marry him," she said.
"You don't have a choice in the matter," Rowena said. "You gave that up when you decided to give Bill Amortentia."
"I hate you!" Helena yelled, and made to storm out of the room in a fit of pique.
"You will be in your room when I make it back to my chambers or so help me, Helena, you will get another spanking!" Rowena said sharply.
Helena froze, her face flushed, then continued out the door.
"Thank you for summoning us here, Bill," Rowena said softly. "I would not have believed it of my sister had I not seen and heard her for myself."
"It was nothing," Bill said. "I wouldn't have known how to handle it by myself, and I thought it best that you see it for yourself for that very reason."
"If you would excuse me," Salazar said, "I have a student to punish still. Helga," he turned to the blonde, "would you do me the honor of aiding me?"
"Of course," Helga replied.
"I guess helping Salazar is now a euphemism for kissing," Bill said. "Just don't ask me for help, and I'll be happy."
Salazar arched a brow and smirked at him. "At least I have gained the courage to kiss the woman I love. Perhaps you should gather your own," he said, cutting his eyes toward Rowena with a knowing look.
Both Rowena and Bill looked towards each other, only to turn pink when their eyes met.
Fifteen Points: Name one characteristic of Amortentia.