A/N: For the Femmeslash Challenge, because I don't think I've written enough lately.

Sidenote though: how the fuck do you write Founders? Sorry for this attempt at being Founders-y, guys. I tried, I really did.

Pairing: Rowena Ravenclaw/Helga Hufflepuff

Prompt: 3. Year

You tell me it's only a year, just a year between when I will see you last and when I might see you again, and I am selfish. I tell you not to go.

You were always the fair one, dear Helga, always sweet and gentle, and when I tell you not to do what you have been waiting all these years for, you shock me. You laugh and it borders on cruel. You fold your arms across your chest, raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"You would stop me, Rowena?"

"I would try."

And I would; I would give you everything to stop our little infinity from reaching its end too soon. I say this, and you laugh once more.

"Some infinites are larger than other infinities," you whisper. "You will have your memories still."

"Am I wrong to want more for us, Helga? Am I wrong to want forever?"

"Surely you of all people know that there is no forever, Rowena? There is today and tomorrow, if you are fortunate. Asking for more is like asking the sun to fall from the sky."

Your hands reach for mine; even now you cannot resist the urge to comfort, to console.

"There is a forever in memory. You cannot tell me that the greatness we know from the past is not still alive, will not continue to live, to go on forever?"

"Then you shall have our memories to warm you when I take my leave."

"You don't have to leave me behind. We could have more. We could make more memories together, I swear it."

I revel in the warmth of your touch. Your blue eyes are wide and careful as you speak.

"You would come? You may not find your future there, Rowena."

"Future? You promised me a year!"

"A year before I make my final decision."

There is silence as I imagine a year without you.

"Take me with you."

And you kiss me then. The heat of your body next to mine assures me I am making the right decision, assures me that I could never let you go, let you leave me. You hold me against you and whisper, "Of course," and I feel as if you have promised me the forever we never deemed possible.

And from her, we will travel to Scotland together and meet your friends. We will start that school, the one you have so dreamt of for so long.

We will cement ourselves a place in the future, Helga. They will remember us forever.

But long before that, we'll have our own forever nestled between our ears, a happy-ever-after trapped in the space between my lips and yours, and I will never regret following you here.