The room that the founders led the Longbottoms and the Potters to was a large cosy one. It had a fireplace that roared to life the instant they entered. There were three couches and two armchairs. Salazar and Godric both moved to separate armchairs and sat down.

With a wave of Rowena's hand, a child's play pen also appeared in the corner of the room.

"The children will be safe here," she said softly, indicating that Alice and Lily should leave their children.

Alice placed Neville in the play pen first, the boy looked up at his mother for a moment before turning his attention to the toys that were dotted around the pen. Lily put Harry next to Neville.

A gentle hand touched Lily's arm.

"I'm glad I got to see you again," Alice said.

"I just wish it was better circumstances," Lily added.

"Please sit, we have the blood relation test if you wish to take them," Salazar said to Lily and Alice gently.

"I trust you," Lily said, shocking herself at the truthfulness of that statement.

"I am honoured to have such trust," Salazar said with a bow of his head.

Lily sat next to her husband, automatically drawing his hand into hers. Alice, on the other couch, did the same thing with Frank.

"We need to discuss the next course of action," Rowena said.

"The charms placed on you all were undone the moment you touched our wards," Helga informed the group. "There were tracking charms on each of you."

"If they have fallen, wont people know we moved?" Frank asked.

"Not unless they are monitoring the charms," Godric said. "It is likely that they were placed on you on the chance you were captured. With the copycats in place, you have nothing to worry about. We would be alerted sooner than those tracking charms would have worked."

Frank nodded, glad that the people before him seemed to know what they were doing.

"Why step in now?" James asked, his eyes moving to Salazar. "Voldemort has been around for a while and before that there were others that wanted –"

"That answer is purely selfish," Salazar said honestly, holding his hand up to stop the female founders interrupting. "If the world were aware we still existed, it would turn to us to solve the problems that arise."

"It would cause a dip in the progress of the magical world," Godric explained. "People would turn to us instead of using their own skills."

"As for why now," Salazar said, his attention solely on James. "It is a family matter."

"Minors should not be hunted," Rowena said seriously. "That is one thing we will not stand for."

"We had to step in," Helga added. "We have allowed Britain to fall back onto old ideologies."

"I believe my friends have answered well enough for me," Godric said. "When situations like this occur, we consider stepping in and announcing we are still here. We hold back on the hope that someone will rise forward and correct it without our help."

"How are you still around?" Alice asked suddenly, a blush forming on her face when they all stared at her. "I – I mean –"

"It is alright," Godric smiled kindly.

"Our magic is tied to Hogwarts," Helga answered.

"A child's mistake," Rowena said fondly.

"We were not aware that whilst building the castle, we put too much of our own essence in there to leave," Godric said.

"Essentially," Salazar said. "As long as Hogwarts stands and operates as a sentient being, we are here."

"Hogwarts is sentient?" James repeated.

"That's why it moves!" Lily gasped.

"Indeed," Godric smiled. "Hogwarts is a marvellous building who has her own sense of mischief."

"Which I still think you did on purpose," Rowena said with a roll of her eyes and a fond smile.

"Hogwarts is sentient but she does not show it," Helga said. "She tends to stick to moving staircases."

"That's amazing," Frank said softly.

"Indeed," Rowena smiled. "It was a shock when we first found out how powerful she could be."

Godric snickered.

"What happened?" Alice asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Rowena was lecturing a student –"

"They almost blew up the whole class!" the woman in question said defensively.

"Rowena was lecturing a student," Salazar repeated. "Whilst doing so, she was not paying attention to where she was walking and a staircase had just moved from where she was heading. As I am sure you can imagine, the scream as she fell was heard throughout the castle."

"I was nearby when it happened," Helga said. "We had an income of new students that needed to be shown around. After the scream, we looked up to see Rowena falling towards us. Before I had chance to react –"

"The castle stopped my fall," Rowena said, annoyed with the suspense that the two were trying to build. "I stopped in mid-air and was placed gently on the ground. It could have been no one else."

"Plus the castle told us," Godric pointed out.

"That was an interesting experience," Salazar smirked. "I believe you screamed that time," he added, looking to Godric.

The Longbottoms and the Potter watched, unsure of how they should react. It was strange, for them, to see the founders talk and joke like true friends.

"Do you miss it?" Lily asked, bravely voicing her question.

"Every day," Helga said glumly. "The children, the castle, the atmosphere. It's, for lack of a better term, magical."

"We will return one day," Rowena said.

"We have gotten off topic," Godric said, the merry twinkle that had been in his eyes now gone.

"Indeed," Helga agreed. "We have a few houses that you are able to stay in, each of them are here, under our protections. We are willing to move the protections elsewhere if you wish."

Alice shook her head. "Here would be perfect," she said. She felt selfish for saying that but being closer to the founders meant that she was closer to safety. It also meant that Neville was safe.

"I agree," Lily said. "If – with Voldemort after us, we need somewhere safe and you – we would be honoured to stay close to you."

James moved his arm around his wife.

"Wherever you think is safest, we will stay there," Frank said.

"Would you want separate places?" Salazar asked. "We have large houses where you all could stay but we also have smaller houses where the two families can be separate."

"I think –" James started. "I think together would be a good start."

"I agree," Frank said. He knew that he wanted to talk about what was happening with the rest of them and he knew how close Alice and Lily were. "Together would be brilliant, at least for now."

"That is agreeable," Godric said. "Settling is easier with familiar faces. You are free to move again when you wish to. We only ask for notice."

"Do you know how long we will have to stay here?" Alice asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Unfortunately we do not," Rowena said. "We have our suspicions that Voldemort will strike soon, but that is only guesswork."

"What happens when he does attack?" James asked.

"Both, myself and Salazar will be notified by the copycats," Godric said. "We will do what we can, the scene must play out. Voldemort is currently searching for children, the copycats of yourselves will likely offer their lives instead of the child's. Once he is focused and there is only the child left, we plan to strike."

"The problem is that there will be Death Eaters," Salazar pointed out. "If it is only Voldemort, there will be little problem. Adding bodies and witnesses makes things difficult."

"We want to keep you safe," Rowena said. "This means that you cannot leave as soon as Voldemort is dead. The Death Eaters would still pose a risk."

Frank nodded, "It depends how the Ministry handles the aftermath then," he summarised.

"Indeed," Godric said.

"Will you tell us when he attacks?" Lily asked.

"If you wish to know, we shall inform you," Helga said.

"Please," Lily asked, she squeezed James' hand.

"It's ok," James said softly, holding his wife closer to his body.

"Perhaps we should show you where you will be staying," Rowena said. "A nights rest will help you come to terms with everything that has happened tonight."

"Thank you," Alice said to Godric. "All of you," she added, looking at each founder.

"It is no problem," Helga said. "Rowena will show you to the house."

Rowena nodded as she stood. The two families followed, collecting their children as they left.

"What is our course of action?" Helga asked once the room was clear.

"We wait," Salazar said. "He will make the first move."

"Which child will be chose?" Helga asked, a worried frown on her face.

"I am unsure –"

"The Potter child," Godric said, cutting Salazar off.

"How do you know?" Salazar asked.

"If he has the ideologies, pureblood is more important to him. There is also the fact he is technically half-blood himself. He will more than likely view Harry as a threat because of their similarities," Godric shrugged.

"I hope not," Salazar admitted. "Family should not turn on itself."

"He doesn't know they're family," Helga reminded the man.

Salazar sighed. He knew Godric's reasoning was sound, he just hoped it wasn't right.