Sloth

Godric Gryffindor sat slumped in one of the large armchairs in the Hogwarts staff room. Slowly, he levitated the empty glass in front of him to head height, then suddenly ended the incantation, only stopping it from smashing just before it hit the table, and sat it back down gently. After a few seconds, he started the process again, for what was at least the twentieth time.

As the glass reached head height it suddenly flew across the room into the outstretched hand of Rowena Ravenclaw. She didn't even lift her head from the essays in her lap as she said dryly

'Can you not find anything else to do? You're being rather distracting'

Godric laughed and cocked his head on his side

'Why thank you, I do try.'

That earned him a slight snort, and his companion finally raised her head from her parchments, with a raised eyebrow and slight smile.

He hadn't seen her smile properly in months.

She returned to her work and Godric stared out of the large window. He knew Helga was out working in the grounds somewhere, but he could not see her.

She and Salazar had never been close, they were too different. As a result, she was relatively unaffected by his departure, unlike himself and Rowena. In fact, their reaction to it was the most awful thing for it about her, and it meant she retreated outside when the gloom became too much for her.

Their greenhouses were the most healthy they had been in years.

Godric turned away from the window to observe Rowena once more. He had been utterly betrayed by a close friend when Salazar left, and had been hurt. But his pain was nothing compared to Rowena's.

She was his oldest friend, and something of a sister to him, and seeing her as she had been the day he left was horrific for him.

He and Helga had been roaming the corridors, him desperately searching for this 'chamber' while Helga pleaded with him to stop. He was stopping at nothing, even as she clutched on to his arm he would not stop moving for a second.

Then they heard a scream. As the only four people in the castle over the long holiday they knew it could only be Rowena. And she never screamed.

They burst in on the staffroom, expecting to see her in some great fight with Salazar.

What they saw was far worse.

Crumpled on the floor Rowena Ravenclaw lay sobbing and screaming as if her heart had been ripped out, yet she was unharmed. Her words were incomprehensible, a first for the educated woman. Even whilst giving birth to Helena, now holidaying in France with friends, she had been coherent in her insults to all who dared approach her.

Now she allowed a shocked and petrified Helga to hold her as she wept. Helga looked up at him, and that told him all he needed to know.

He bellowed Salazar's name and stormed out of the room echoing with sobbing.

But he was too late, Salazar had gone.

Now as he stared at her he noticed that her face was completely blank, she wasn't reading the words in front of her.

Until Salazar left, that was rare for Rowena. These days it seemed to happen far too often.

Gently, he rose without her noticing and crossed over to her. It was only when he sat himself beside her and put his arm around her that she registered his presence, and turned to look at him.

She smiled sadly as he stroked her nose.

'It will get better'.

She smiled again as tears sprung to her eyes,

'He has my child'.

'I know. And we will find them and bring him back to you.'

She snorted again, and looked at him with raised eyebrows, obviously trying not to cry. He ruffled her hair, prompting a slightly strangled laugh as her tears became harder to fight.

As they sat there, with him stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder, Godric considered their last few years.

They had worked so hard to build this school, yet now, neither of them seemed to have the energy to do anything.

He supposed it was laziness. But looking down at his friend, who was so emotionally drained and lacklustre, it didn't seem to be so sinful after all.

They would carry on, and so would the school. And they would find Rowena's child and the man who gave her him and then stole him from her.

And when they did, he thought grimly, he would wring Salazar's neck.