A/N: I know; I know. I was a slowpoke. But, Kim and I have gone through many of the notes for the rpg and actually finally formed a consistent storyline background. Some parts of the previous two chapters have been changed as a result, so if you're a stickler for stuff like that, you may want to go read them first.

MIDNIGHT MEETING AND MORNING GREETING

Godric opened his eyes. He sat up, stretching and yawning, then opened the curtains around his bed. To his surprise, he discovered that it was dark outside. "I didn't realize that I had slept so long; I was originally only going to take a nap!" Suddenly his stomach gave a loud growl of protest. "Oh yeah…I didn't really eat at the feast earlier. I'll go grab something from the kitchens."

After tickling the pear in the fruit painting (it had been his idea and STILL made him laugh), he descended the stairs into the kitchen, where, to his surprise, he found Helga Hufflepuff sitting tiredly at one of the tables.

Helga was too busy brooding over the table to even notice Godric walked in, that was until he cleared his throat. "Oh, Godric. How was your sleep?" she said startled.

"It was very restful, but now I'm famished," he answered as he rummaged through the cupboards himself rather than waking one of the house elves. He found a loaf of brown bread and stuffed a chunk in his mouth. Turning back to Helga, he asked "What are you doing in here so late at night?" But it came out muffled because his mouth was stuffed full of food.

"One of the house elves was sick, so I was tending to him."

They both turned as the sound of footsteps echoed down the stairs. Salazar walked in, his hair a mess. Helga gave him a welcoming smile. "How are you this evening, Godric?" Salazar asked as he came over to stand next to the shorter Godric.

"I'm great, Salazar," Godric answered with his mouth still stuffed with food. He swallowed with great difficulty due to the large amount of food in his mouth before he continued speaking. "My goodness, we're all up late except for Rowena! Well, I took a nap, and Helga was tending a sick house elf, but what about you Salazar? Insomnia again?"

"I couldn't sleep. You know all about my insomnia, don't you, Godric?" Salazar chuckled, sitting down on one of the benches.

Helga gave a sympathetic nod. "You know, you can always come to me when you have those problems, Salazar. I am the resident Healer after all." Helga noticed Salazar's rumpled appearance and decided that what he needed was something to relax him. "How about we have some hot chocolate?"

Without even waiting for a response, Helga got up and began making hot chocolate. Godric watched her and noticed that her behavior seemed a little odd. Was it only because she was tired, or could it be something else? Hesitantly Godric ventured, "Helga, you look stressed. What's on your mind?"

Helga looked at Godric in surprise. People usually didn't bother to question her on how SHE was feeling. "I'm afraid of how the war will affect the school, Godric. We cannot keep this place untainted by it forever."

"I thought we already took steps in preserving the school with our choice of Head Boy? I know it isn't enough, but...what do you think, Salazar?" Both Godric and Helga turned to look at Salazar, who appeared to have not heard a word.

"Why must Ravenclaw always accuse me of doing the wrong thing? Of being in alliance with Iudicium...She won't trust me anymore," he said frustrated, as though they had been talking about his and Rowena's relationship the whole time.

"Rowena just has to find reasons to nitpick at you, Salazar. You should be very familiar with that by now. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Godric said comfortingly.

"I don't really know what to do now," Salazar muttered to the table. Looking back up at Godric from his seat, he asked, "What can I do that would make the rest of the school seem safer?"

But it was Helga who responded with a frown. "I'm not sure. I think people are just worried about what will happen with Hogsmeade being controlled by Iudicium. There are ways to Hogwarts through there, of course."

"And of course, I'm the one being blamed for Iudicium being in Hogsmeade to begin with. How was I to know he would betray me like that?"

Noticing that Helga was finished with the hot chocolate, Godric decided to try to lighten the mood. "Thank you for the hot chocolate, Helga. I believe it will be just the ticket. Do have some, Salazar."

Salazar took the proffered mug of the hot chocolate, taking a sip of it. "It's pretty good, Helga. If Godric had made it, knowing him it would taste better if it were made by a dog!" The green-eyed founder smirked, winking at his friend.

Joking back, Godric replied, "Which is why we let our resident Healer make it!" Returning to a more serious attitude, he said. "We won't accomplish anything by discussing this is in the middle of the night when we're all tired, and we shouldn't exclude Rowena from any discussions involving the school. I'm going back to bed now, and maybe I'll actually wake up on time for once!" he finished with a laugh.

Helga gave him a quizzical look. "That would be a miracle indeed." She said lightly, while collecting the empty mugs. "But you're right. We should all get to bed. We have our first classes tomorrow, remember?"

Salazar gave a sigh and stood up. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," he said in deceptively light tones and headed up the stairs. Helga and Godric glanced at each other, but neither chose to voice their thoughts on Salazar's abrupt departure as they too headed up the stairs.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lyneth awoke in a cheerful mood. She had an unusually good summer spent with her strange aunt in Greece. She looked around the girls' dormitory, noticing only Jalila, who had been the last to fall asleep. Lyneth prepared for the day and sat in the common room, gazing intently at the magical painting on the opposite side of the room. The Slytherin dungeons had no windows, being situated under the lake, but paintings of scenery instead.

"Good morning Lyneth." A voice greeted her coolly.

Lyneth turned at the sound of his voice and noticed it was Ender Archer speaking. "Good Morning, Ender," she greeted with a slight smile.

Ender remained expressionless as he made his way over to the hearth. He had not slept well the night before, but lack of sleep had never bothered him. He was used to having few hours of sleep with his job as Prefect and being a role model student on top of his priority list. "Is Jalila awake?" Ender found himself asking. It was a stupid question, but those things seemed to slip out more often than not lately. Not receiving the Head Boy position was no longer bothering him, so what was? Ender could tell his mask was cracking. Perhaps it had something to do with what his parents had said before Ender arrived at Hogwarts.

Lyneth was confused by the question but didn't want to ask why he wanted to know. She figured it was best to just answer when it came to Ender. "No, she was still asleep when I came down. It took her some time to get to bed, so it's expected."

Ender had not expected a response from Lyneth as he did not expect anyone to respond to stupid questions that had obvious answers. He quickly searched his mind for a justification and replied, "Jalila was troubled the night before, and I gave her some advice."

Just as Ender finished his sentence, he realized his words gave the impression opposite of what he intended. Nothing was going right this year. No Head Boy. His mask was cracking. And he was beginning to build relationships with others. He had always remained cold and distant to preserve his integrity as someone who did not rise to the top because of the aid of his parents but because he was capable of reaching the top with his own strengths. Ender Archer was the adopted son of the Archer Family, a Pureblood among Purebloods. He had to be a Pureblood, right?

Lyneth considered his response. "Well, I'm sure she'll be up soon," was all she could think to say. There was definitely something different about him. She had never disliked Ender, but she never really knew anything about him either. Perhaps he was still under the shock of not becoming Head Boy...She smiled inwardly, wondering if they were going to see a new Ender this year.

Ender turned about to face Lyneth and said, "Tell her that I may have been a bit harsh on her last night, and that I am sorry. As Prefect, I care for the well-being of the members of my House. If you will excuse me, I must go about my Prefect duties now."

Lyneth nodded, although she wasn't sure if he was worried about his duties as a prefect or if he just wanted to get away. "I'll tell her."

Ender made no gesture to show he had heard her, but Lyneth could see that he had. She smiled to herself and decided to wait for Jalila. She wasn't very hungry so she wouldn't mind if Jalila slept through breakfast. She pulled a book out of her bag and began to read.

Ender had not seen Lyneth's smile as he was already making his way out of the common room but not before whispering, "Thank you, Lyneth." He let the wall slide shut to the common room before making his way to his first destination: the Great Hall.

Ender scoured the corridors of Hogwarts making his presence known. Everyone was scared of him as he ruthlessly took points from everyone who broke the rules, even if it was a person from his own house. Ender was fine with being viewed this way; it made his job easier. When he reached the Great Hall, Ender took a seat at the Slytherin table and wondered why the four Professors were not in their respective seats. He helped himself to some breakfast, while keeping an eye on the students filing into the Great Hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rowena woke up slowly and grumbled as she flipped over on her bed. What a stupid dream, she thought. And completely inaccurate. Godric and Salazar enemies? Ha! That'll happen when pigs fly!

After dressing, Rowena headed to breakfast, though she was sure to be late… I'd like to meet Salazar or Godric along the way...Maybe we can talk about my dream...or the Iudicium problem...It's really growing on me. Just then she spotted Godric walking down the hallway. "Godric!" Rowena said as she came to a halt. "There you are. I was wondering where all the other founders were...what do you think of the situation?"

Godric turned at the sound of his name. Despite staying up late talking with Salazar and Helga, he was feeling very energetic. Turning back to come into step with Rowena, Godric answered her question. "Well, we were up late…or early, however you choose to say it, chatting in the kitchens. I don't know where Helga is; she's always been an early riser and is undoubtedly already in her classroom preparing, but I'm sure Salazar is still sleeping in. You know how he is when he suffers from insomnia; it's best to let him rest. Salazar is upset that you blame the whole situation on him."

"Salazar should know better than to believe me when I'm in a mood like that. I don't blame it ALL on him. Just the vast majority of it. Come on, Godric, you or Helga or even I would never let Iudicum in Hogsmeade like that. I understand he wanted to save his own skin; he's Salazar after all, but I was hoping...But I shouldn't. I've been hoping for thirty years. Look where that got me."

"Salazar's reasons for his actions aren't as selfish as you seem to think. You should really sit down and have a talk with him about it."

"I was going to apologize yesterday, but when I saw him, I..." she looked down at her feet and mumbled under her breath, "couldn't do it."

Godric kept a straight face. "Well, I'm the Head of Gryffindor, dear, not you." He patted Rowena on the back. "I'll try to arrange circumstances where you can get around to it later."

Rowena still looked disheartened, so Godric did the only thing that seemed right. He thought of food. It always seemed to cheer him up. Smiling brightly, Godric took her arm. "Let's go eat! There are some instances where it's best to follow your nose, and breakfast time at Hogwarts is one of them!"

Rowena rolled her eyes. "Men...nothing but food."

Godric was indigant. "I have many other loves in life! But food...food is SUSTENANCE to MAINTAIN life."

"Yes, dear, food is sustenance..." Rowena said in a placating tone, "but you might be a bit too sustained, if you see what I mean...a couple more treacle tarts, and you'll start getting stout!"

Godric was now shocked on top of indignant. "Me? Stout? My dear Rowena, that's impossible considering the level of physical activity in my life. I need a lot of food because I use up so much energy so quickly!"

"Of course, darling. Now, shall we go get you some food? I bet the students will be very surprised that we're not at the staff table...And then you can arrange that talk with Salazar..."

They walked into the Great Hall and up to the staff table. Despite being somewhat miffed with Rowena, Godric still pulled out the chair for her to sit. "Thanks, Godric," she said as she took her seat. "Always the gentlemen!"

"You're welcome, Rowena," Godric said, not really paying attention anymore as he promptly sat and began piling food on his plate.

Rowena nibbled at her eggs, her mind obviously on other things. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Salazar billowing into the room. Instead of wearing his usual colors of silver and green, his robes were black, and his hair was a bit dishevelled. Rowena quickly jumped to her feet. "I have to go get ready for my first class," she said breathlessly. Godric nodded absentmindedly in response, not really listening as he continued scarfing down his eggs. Rowena headed out of the room the opposite way Salazar was coming in as quickly as she could while still being graceful.

Salazar sat down next to Godric and leaned back in his chair, groaning softly. "Up so soon, Salazar? I wasn't even sure you'd make your first class," Godric said cheerfully, reaching for more eggs.

Salazar made a noncommittal sound and looked at Godric, his eyes shadowed with dark rings beneath them. "I had nightmares all last night. I went for a stroll around the school after we finished our talk, Godric. It's very beautiful at night...Also, the item you gave me; it works. I'll have to get my initial engraved on it. Thank you for picking it up, dear friend."

"Once again Salazar, it's never a problem to help you." Godric said softly. He looked around, only then noticing that Rowena had vanished. "Blast! Where did Rowena go? She says she wants to talk to you, and then when you show up, POOF, she disappears!"

"And you'd think a seer like her would...'see' to stick around," Salazar said, snickering at himself. Becoming more serious, Salazar sneered at his still empty plate. "On another note, I've made up a new design, Godric. I was hoping that you and I would be able to go over it. And I've also come up with something that I'm sure you'd like... but it's a secret, you realise?"

Godric glanced at the level of the sun. "We should discuss it somewhere more private...and we don't have time right now before classes start. Later? Before dinner?" Godric whispered to Salazar.

"Yes, yes..." Salazar said impatiently in agreement. And then without eating a thing, he rose from the table and headed towards the dungeons for his first Potions class, his glittering eyes sweeping the crowds of students, sending a chill down those that dared look into his eyes.

Godric stuffed one last piece of toast in his mouth before he followed his moody friend until they reached the junction where they had to part ways to go to their separate classrooms. He really didn't understand why the students always seemed so afraid of Salazar. He was a little cold, but that was nothing to fear.

A/N: Now that we have the consistent background, updating will be faster. I know Kim already has significant portions of chapter 4 done!

Now, guys, I know some of you don't like to review, but one reason this took so long is because we thought no one was reading it. If you don't review, at least tell Kim or I through IM or email or SOMEHOW that you are reading it. If you have any problems or questions, don't hesitate to ask! Thanks!

The new character introduced in this chapter was Lyneth. We think her pen name is shatteredcause, but we are attempting to get in touch with her to be certain.