After what seemed like years of filling out paperwork and requests and all the necessary applications for founding a wizarding school, Rowena sat back in her chair and observed the handiwork of her fellow Founders. The Great Hall, which had formerly been a huge, barren room, was now outfitted with various tapestries and 2 long tables for their students to sit at.

Rowena still hadn't figured out how to supply so many ravenous children with enough food, but, in time that would come. Right now, she had more pressing worries. Like the fact that the school was 3 days away from officially opening and they still had not planned out anything in the way of a decent curriculum, or even what subjects to teach.

"Arithmancy! I call dibs on Arithmancy!" Mathew shouted from across the table. Rowena raised an eyebrow, and continued sorting the papers aimlessly. Who would have thought Malfoy of all people would want to teach Arithmancy? She shook her head, amazed as always about the little quirks her friends had that she'd never noticed until now.

Of course, living in a giant castle and running a school together was bound to bring them all closer together. It was an uncomfortable and hurried way of getting to know each others best and worst sides, but they were still friends after 3 months of preparing the school, and that had to be a good sign, Rowena thought.

"Fine. But I get Potions," Salazar snapped.

"Transfiguration!" Godric called.

They all turned to Rowena, who had remained silent the entire meeting. They were finally ironing out the curriculum, and so far, Rowena was not particularly impressed. They needed a more rounded curriculum. What they had come up with was awfully narrow, aimed only at the interests of the founders.

"Charms. But we should have more subjects, a wider range. We want to please all our students, and provide them the best education possible," she explained crisply, looking at each of them in turn.

They all deflated. The prospect of putting actual effort into a school none of them had wanted to found disintegrated their initial enthusiasm.

"I'm serious," she said plaintively when she noticed their lacklustre expressions, "If we're going to found a school, we've got to do it right. Please, just listen to me this once."

Godric sighed, and nodded. Ever the optimist, he replied, "Of course it'll work out. Now, what is it exactly you had in mind for our curriculum?"

Rowena flashed him a grateful smile. His opinion was the only one that really mattered. For all she cared, Malfoy and Slytherin could go drown in their own self-inflated egos. So long as she had Godric's support, she would get her way.

"I was thinking Astronomy, and maybe something to do with magical plants and animals. Oh, and we also need a library," she began, listing off the items of her wish list, "History of Magic, too, maybe. And we still need to figure out just how we'll sort these students."

"What do you mean, sort?" Salazar asked, furrowing his brow. Rowena turned to him, as always, feeling the jolt of his endless green eyes meeting hers. Something fluttered in her stomach, but she repressed it ruthlessly. They were planning a school, for God's sake. They had no time for wild flights of fancy and butterflies and sunshine and all that lovey-dovey stuff.

"Well, I don't exactly know. Just organizing them into what they would be best suited to. I don't like having things jumbled together in a mess."

"So now students are a mess to be sorted," Mathew drawled mockingly, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

"You know what I mean!" she flared angrily. "I just think we should sort them into similar groups and interests, so we could perhaps tailor the curriculum to suit their individual needs."

Mathew rolled his eyes. "But just a minute ago, you said you wanted each student to have a 'well rounded education', did you not? Doesn't this sorting idea go against that?" He smirked when she met his cool gray eyes with a vicious glare.

"I just want some organization, is that too much to ask?!" she shrieked, banging her fist against the table.

The silence was palpable as Rowena sat down again, smoothing her dress and looking for all the world like a prim and proper lady. Only the ringing in their ears was evidence that Rowena had lost her composure.

Salazar cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well... um. I think it's a good idea. We could all use... a little organization."

"Okay," Godric agreed.

"Alright. That's settled then."

"I think this meeting is over now."

"Okay."

"Sounds good."

Rowena had already worked out the timetables, figured out how to sort the students, and generally done mostly everything since the disastrous meeting 2 weeks ago. 3 new teachers had been hired to take on the extra subjects, the common rooms were furnished, and almost everything was sorted out for the first day the school opened.

"Rowena, Rowena, look what I found!" Godric exclaimed, bounding into her office with both hands behind his back. She glanced up from the timetables warily, arching an eyebrow.

"I don't know. What?"

He grinned, and somehow he reminded Rowena of a large, enthusiastic puppy. From behind his back, he pulled a shiny, black pointed hat.

"Isn't it great?" he asked, setting the hat on Rowena's desk with a look of smug satisfaction.

She frowned, and lightly dusted a speck of dirt off the hat. "Yes, it's quite-"

"AARRGGHH! THAT'S MY EYE!"

Rowena shrieked at the sound of the gruff voice, falling out of her chair in surprise. From a tear near the brim of the hat, profanities and cries of pain issued loudly enough to mask Rowena's cursing.

Godric burst into hysterical laughter; his poor attempt at masking it with a cough only made it worse. Rowena glared at him, and tried to get back up from her rather compromising position with what little pride she could salvage.

Godric extended a hand to help her up, but it was shaking from his laughter. She glared at him, but took his hand daintily, and he helped her off the floor. Had he not been shaking with laughter, he would have been the picture of a chivalrous gentleman.

"I got the exact same reaction from Malfoy and Salazar," he said once he stopped laughing enough to speak coherently.

"Really? How fascinating. I expect it had something to do with the fact that you appear to have found a talking hat," Rowena pointed out sarcastically.

"They screamed like little girls and everything, just like y-"

"Are you saying I scream like a little girl?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Godric backtracked immediately. "You have a scream very consistent with that of a grown woman."

Before Rowena could open her mouth for a scathing rebuttal, Godric clamped a hand over his mouth and flushed bright red.

"I did not mean it like that, I swear!" he amended, embarrassed.

"You sicken me, Godric Gryffindor!" Rowena exclaimed, blushing almost as bright as Godric had as she realized the double entendre. She threw the hat at Godric angrily; it flew in a perfect arc, shrieking profanities all the way and adding to the cacophony in Rowena's usually silent office.

"You know what, I'll just go now," Godric said loudly over the shrieking of Rowena and the hat.

"Do me a favour, and never come back with that hat," she snapped, returning to her seat.

"SHUT UP, YE WITCH!" the hat, having somehow heard Rowena's comment despite its conspicuous lack of ears, shrieked back angrily, starting up with the profanities again. Godric shushed it as he would a child, then quickly left the office without another word.

She sighed, shook her head, and wondered how such a seemingly inept fool could be the son of the most powerful wizard in the world. Not inept, a voice in her head interrupted. Just naive. No matter, Godric still reminded her of a clumsy puppy with feet too large for its body. Perhaps, in time, he would grow into his role and stop acting like a child.

Until then... Well, Rowena didn't want to think about how long it would take for the lot of them to grow up. Too long, at any rate.

She was smiling to herself when Salazar tapped gently at her door. As soon as she looked up, Rowena composed her expression to one of cool indifference, although when his green eyes met hers, she felt the butterflies start up again in the pit of her stomach. Trying to ignore her sudden nervous jitters, she invited him inside.

"So, what brings you to my office?" she asked as she pretended to straighten her desk absently.

"I heard a commotion, and something that sounded like a dying llama, which I assumed was Godric screaming."

"And you wanted to check on me, to see if the big, bad Gryffindor was taking advantage of the fragile female?" she enquired with her usual twisted sarcasm.

Salazar smirked, and chuckled once. "Quite the opposite, I was checking to see if you had beaten Gryffindor into a bloody pulp yet. I was coming to cheer."

"It's good to know I have support. When I decide to violently flog the living snot out of Godric, I'll be sure to let you know."

"I'll bring cake."

"Sounds like a date."

"Really? What, is bonding over aggravated assault and battery your kind of date?"

"I'm of the opinion that burying the bodies makes the better date."

"There's nothing like a long, romantic walk with your sweetheart and a dead body to stimulate the soul," Salazar sagely agreed.

Rowena grinned, and Salazar smiled back. Not his normal smug smirk, but a real smile that brightened his whole face.

"Anyways, our plans aside, Godders, Malfoy and I are having a celebratory party, and we would like to formally invite you to join us in the Great Hall to get, as Godric delightfully put it, wasted."

"Wasted?"

"Drunk, three sheets to the wind, et cetera, et cetera."

"Now that is what I'm talking about," Rowena said enthusiastically. After months of planning, sleepless nights, endless paperwork and various menial tasks, the school was ready, and she would like nothing more than to bask in the glorious ignorance of drunkenness. Even if only for one night, and even if she would wake up the next morning with a pounding headache.

"My lady," Salazar said, mocking Godric's formal speech to a T. He held out his hand to help Rowena out of her chair and smirked when she took it shakily.

It was the first time he had seen her composure slip since the meeting where she had verbally beaten the pulp out of Malfoy. It was amusing. He smirked just thinking about it.

When they got to the Great Hall, Godric and Malfoy had already busted out the booze on the Teacher's table, and by the looks of things, had already started drinking. Godric was wearing his talking hat, which was loudly demanding booze and women; Malfoy was laughing manically and dancing like what appeared to be a brain-damaged squirrel. Rowena entered with Salazar, and the Founders were complete.

After some introductory small-talk and chatting, they all gathered around the Teacher's table and raised their glasses in a toast.

"I'd like to propose a toast... speech... er... thing," Godric began, eloquent as always. Malfoy immediately sobered, looking grave and serious. Salazar grinned, and even Rowena managed a tentative smile.

It would have been a perfect group bonding moment, had half of them not been three sheets to the wind.

"When we started this school, we didn't even want to found one," he began, a bit too loudly. "And I'm not so sure about this idea still, but hey, if every night is like this-" burp "-COUNT ME IN!" he roared, sloshing his wine all over the table.

"Here's to founding Hogwarts!" Salazar shouted.

"Here's to starting a new generation of education!"

"Here's to redefining ourselves and our families!" This from a surprisingly poetic Malfoy, considering he was so drunk standing was a difficulty.

They clinked glasses, and the alcohol flowed well into the night, coaxing laughter, much silliness, and several drunken duels initiated by the talking hat.

The last thing Rowena remembered was hearing the hat slurring, "Beer, beer, women and beer!" before passing out.