It was late one Wednesday night, and the first years had returned from their Astronomy class. While the students trudged sleepily up to their rooms, Salazar was lost in his thoughts. Which, if Salazar was honest with himself, was part of his problem. Salazar had been distracted in class. So much so that Godric had noticed and asked him about it. If Godric noticed, then his fellow Slytherins surely noticed. That could cause an issue for Salazar. Those silly eleven year olds believed any perceived weakness an advantage and would try to manipulate him or use the information against him. It was only a matter of time before one of them would try.

Once he ensured the room was cleared, Salazar summoned the elf, "Culley."

"Yes, Mistress-sir?"

After a pause, Salazar physically shook his head to clear his thoughts and spoke aloud, "The time has come." Salazar sighed softly and admitted, "No, it's truly beyond time and she's simply being utterly stubborn and narrow minded." He closed his eyes, realizing he was speaking more to himself than to the house elf. Salazar opened his eyes and leveled his gaze at Culley. "I have a mission for you." Culley perked up at the statement. The house elf took a half step forward. Salazar spoke slowly and enunciated, "You are to search for the Ravenclaw House Ghost." Culley's eyes went wide at hearing his words and Salazar asked, "Do you know whom I speak of?"

She nodded slowly. Salazar barely heard her whisper, "Baron's Lady."

"The Baron's..." Salazar repeated letting his words drift off, because as rumor had it, that was the truth of it. Salazar continued, "Call her what you will, so long as you find her. Helena does not need to see you... Actually it would be better if she did not know you are searching for her. I must speak with her, so once she's found tell me where I can locate her."

"Yes, Mistress-sir!" And she poofed away.

Salazar stayed where he was for a few minutes longer then made his way to bed. Thankfully he didn't have a morning class following breakfast, but Salazar refused to be found having a lie in like the lazy oaf that followed Malfoy around.

- - - - Founders - - - -

They had gathered once more in the Room of Requirement. The room was a cozy recreation of their shared common area with the Hogwarts staff, reminiscent of their days teaching at the school. The coffee table sat in the center of the rug with armchairs scattered around it, large, high windows each with a lush plant, bookshelves lined two walls bursting with literature, and a fireplace burning brightly. While he enjoyed his original life with his friends and family, creating the school, teaching the students, and exploring magic, Salazar wouldn't trade what he had now to go back to that time period. He had gotten rather spoiled with modern technology, the advancements in magic, and - more importantly - indoor plumbing! Personal hygiene hadn't been that important back in their days, but now… oh the luxury of a warm bubble bath.

They were gathered for their bi-monthly meeting of the minds. They got together in order to exchange thoughts, give any update on whatever personal project(s) they were working on, or give progress reports on any assignment given to them… such as Godric's on-going task of trying to keep Harry and friends out of trouble. Not that Godric was having much luck with the trio, but he at least gave updates.

Salazar had mostly remained silent that evening. He wasn't currently working on a project that he wanted to share with the group. He didn't want to admit to Rowena that he was actively searching for her daughter. When someone asked him a question, Salazar would do his best to bring the subject back around to Godric's failings to take the focus off of him. He would ask things such as "What is Hermione researching now?" or "Did I see the boys creeping around the third floor again?"

He had been rather restless that evening. His left leg jiggled up and down anxiously, which was utterly out of character for him. Yet Salazar was among friends, friends that he trusted with his life, and if he couldn't let down his guard with these three people, there was no hope for him. Salazar bit his thumb nail and contemplated his current life, the numerous questions he still had, and his foreseeable future goals.

Then there was the fact that Culley hadn't come back to tell him where Helena was, and it had been nearly three weeks since he gave her the task. Salazar truly wanted to speak with Helena and give that chit a piece of his mind. How dare she hurt Rowena that way? No one, not even their offspring, were allowed to hurt his family.

The room had grown quiet. Salazar's leg stilled. When did that happen? What were the others doing? How long had the room been silent? He slowly looked up and noted, with dismay, that each of his friends were staring at him. What had he missed? How long had they been staring at him? Finally, Salazar couldn't stand the silence any longer. "What?" He asked, as if he didn't already know.

"You've been deflecting all night," Rowena needlessly pointed out.

Salazar deflated. All the breath left him in a rush of air. "I feel as if I'm at a crossroads." He admitted, "You see, I've been watching my housemates and, with a few exceptions, they're useless." Salazar ran his hand over his face as he stated, "They're bullies, they're narcissistic, they're narrow minded and, while I haven't spoken much with the seventh or fifth years due to their studying, they've given up. The other houses see only the color of their tie and have decided they know what sort of person they are and dismiss them. Their parents, society, life has certain expectations for them - their future job, future spouse, their future standing in society - that they feel resigned to uphold, that this is their fate and there is no point in fighting it.

"So… Do I intervene, or do I leave things to play out on their own? In our time, there was no question because yes, we were expected to follow what our fathers outlined for us… but times have changed, life has moved on, and our new generation has not grown with it. But can I do anything? Should I even try? Do I have the right to judge them for their choices?" He suddenly felt lighter for having told his friends of his concerns: his heart was less stressed and he felt relieved. Salazar had been carrying these concerns around for far too long. His house, his students had given up on society, given up on the world and on themselves. They had resigned themselves to only rely on others like themselves and not reach out. Sure, there were exceptions like Lily Moon and himself, even Blaise Zabini had been seen with a Ravenclaw, but the majority of the students in Slytherin House only associated within their own house. Perhaps something could be done about that. Perhaps it would never be resolved. And perhaps Salazar was reading too much into things. Salazar didn't know. Diplomacy was Helga's field of expertise.

- - - - Founders - - - -

She was hovering in the Transfiguration courtyard. She was alone and appeared quite distracted. Salazar opted to skip the feast in order to ensure he didn't miss her. He was not going to take any chances that she'd slip away from him again. Pressing his palm against the stone wall, Salazar tapped into the magic available to him and closed his eyes while willing the area to become properly warded.

Due to his current youthful age, Salazar had to steady himself before he could move forward. Helena had apparently felt the wave of magic because she was currently looking around for the cause. By the time Salazar regained his wits, he saw the ghost staring in his direction, but she hadn't moved away. By all appearances, she looked rather despondent and resigned to the inevitable.

Salazar moved forward into the courtyard before taking a seat nearby. He didn't approach the ghost; he allowed a modicum of separation for her comfort. Helena never liked being crowded, Salazar doubted that changed with her death.

The two remained in silence for a while until Helena finally deemed to speak, "Halò, Uncail Salazar."

Salazar looked at the floating specter and responded with a soft smile filled with the love he still felt for the little girl he once knew. "Halò, Calman Beag."

Helena gave a surprised laugh at the endearment. Her voice was wistful, "No one has called me that in ages..." Helena put a hand over her mouth and swallowed hard to bite back a sob. Her voice had softened when she said, "not since you died."

"Yes, I was killed." Salazar noted, "Being killed can be an excruciatingly painful experience. Have you come to accept your death yet?"

Helena floated closer to her honorary uncle and 'sat' beside him on the bench. "Eventually, yes. But Uncail Salazar, that's not what's keeping me here."

"That's what I was afraid of," Salazar admitted.

"I don't understand," Helena prompted.

"Your mother is here. She can forgive you if you just talk with her," Salazar explained. "I'm rather certain she's not upset with you, but she misses you terribly."

"Oh," Helena looked down at her hands, "I can't yet. I did something bad, Uncail Salazar."

"You took something-"

"Much worse than that," Helena interrupted with such anguish that Salazar just nodded. He didn't speak or reprimand her for interrupting him, instead allowing the girl to come to grips with her emotions and continue when she was ready. Helena started, "I told someone where Mother's diadem was hidden…" She bit her lip, and Salazar waited, letting the girl talk in her own time. It took a while, but finally Helena admitted, "He said he was going to return it for me. Bring it back to the school where it belonged. I thought that if I could manage to get that one thing done… I would pass on to the other side, so I could be with Mother and beg her forgiveness, but he…"

Helena looked at Salazar with glistening milky white tears streaming down her lovely face. "He lied to me, Uncail Salazar. Oh, he brought it back alright… but he's defiled it! I can't speak with her until it's cleansed. Once it's as it should be, then I can beg Mummy to forgive me... maybe then I can move on?"

"Okay, Calman Beag. I'll help you," Salazar said without hesitation. He had no idea what had been done to the diadem, or where it currently resided, but Salazar would do anything to ease the girl's pain. Salazar always had a soft spot for Helena in his heart. He adored that little girl since the day she was born.

- - - - Founders - - - -

"Norbert?" Salazar asked incredulously, "He named the dragon Norbert?"

Godric laughed. "Yes, Norbert."

"The man has a way of naming his beasts the most unusual things."

"Oh, but he's a beauty," Godric said with a huge wistful grin. "You'd have loved him."

"I imagine I would, at that," Salazar agreed a bit wistfully himself. That was one beast Salazar had not yet seen in person and would have loved dearly to have had a chance to meet. They were walking down an aisle in a room that Helena had told him about, the Room of Hidden Things. It was conveniently located within the Room of Requirement. The two friends were carefully picking their way through the stacks of accumulated items over the past thousand years or so. The cavernous room seemed to go on forever with narrow alleys between broken furniture, discarded books, bottles with questionable contents, brooms, trash, mounds of old clothing, animal cages of various sizes, several rusted weapons, and melted cauldrons.

"Shame they're sending him away so soon. I'm surprised they didn't do a class with him before sending him off to the dragon reserve. A wasted learning opportunity if you ask me," Godric said as he idly looked over a pile of discarded armor. The warrior had managed to pick up an old ax flaking with dried blood from somewhere.

"Where would they have kept him?" Salazar asked curiously. "A fire breathing, carnivorous dragon can't exactly be kept with the livestock. I doubt it would be any safer for him in the forest or for the creatures already residing in there. I'm certain there are more things within the forest than what we had last seen."

"I suppose you're right," Godric said with a sad, little pout in his tone, only to perk up a moment later. "You know. We haven't visited the forest since we've come back. We should re-acquaint ourselves with the centaurs, at the very least. Perhaps even with the merfolk."

Salazar gave his long time best friend an amused look. "Are you growing bored, my friend?"

" Yes ," Godric admitted vehemently while looking around them. "Though this is a nice change of pace. There's no telling what we can find here." Godric hefted the ax in his hands in a practiced move then came to a stop to finally ask, "What is it we're looking for anyway?"

"Over here, I found it!"

The sudden shout caused Godric to take a battle stance, his arms barely holding the large ax at the ready. Godric's voice was low when he asked, "Who was that?" His brows furrowed as he followed up his question with, "Why do I recognize that voice?"

Helena came rushing through the stacks, not bothering to swerve around the items and stopped short at the sight of Godric prepared to do battle. The ghost let out a startled little girly squeak. Salazar had turned around and rolled his eyes at the silly fool. "Put down the ax, Ric. You're going to hurt yourself… or worse, me."

"Sir Gryffindor."

Godric slowly lowered the ax until the weight of the head took over and gravity caused it to thud to the stone floor. Godric looked from the ghost to Salazar and back, stating, "Little Helena."

"Yes, yes, we all know who we are." Salazar waved off the awkwardness and asked, "Where is it, Calman?"

Helena shook off the warring emotions and smiled at Salazar. "It's three aisles down."

"Lead the way then." With a beaming smile, Helena began moving down the narrow aisle in the same direction that the two founders had just come from. Salazar kept shooting guilty looks at Godric. He really should have told his friend why they were there and admitted, "I had been looking for Helena for some time. If I can help her with this task, she has readily agreed to see her mother and speak with her."

"Okay," Godric said.

"Okay?" Salazar peered at his long-time friend. "That's it? Just… okay?"

"You needed my help with the search… for whatever… so, I'm here… now it's found… so, okay."

"Okay," Salazar repeated. They had come to a fork and Salazar looped his hand in his friend's arm with a smile. "Never change, Ric."

Godric just looked at his friend with a bemused expression, but before he could ask any questions Helena popped out of one of the aisles and prompted, "This way, Uncail Salazar!"

"Wait… Uncail Salazar?" Helena flinched and looked at the two living beings. She began floating backwards as Godric complained, "I have to be Sir Gryffindor, but he gets to be Uncail Salazar? That's not fair. I want to be an uncail!"

Helena's eyes were large, and she floundered for a response. Salazar in the meantime had followed the girl to the open wooden box. He stopped abruptly a meter away. "That…" Salazar shuddered, "is vile."

Godric stood beside his friend and agreed, "Whatever is in there… That's bad."

The ghost sagged in defeat and asked, "Can you fix it?"

"Not yet," Salazar admitted. "I don't know what was done to it. Then there's the problem of my magic… it's not fully back yet. I'm sorry, Calman Beag. It's going to take some time."

"We can't leave that here."

"It's been hidden here for decades," Helena admitted. "But whoever asks for the room to appear, can ask for something more secure."

Salazar nodded. "Stay back. If I need rescuing, I want you at a safe distance."

"If it's dangerous, I'll do it," Godric volunteered. Then paused before asking, "What am I doing?"

Shaking his head, Salazar chuckled. "Just watch for danger."

"Right." Godric grew serious and hefted the ax once more. The bloody thing was nearly as tall as the girl's body that Godric resided within, but Salazar wasn't about to point that out. He had better survival instincts than that.

Using his magic, Salazar closed the lid of the wooden box and breathed easier when no traps were triggered. He then magically raised the box from its perch and had set it on the ground before mentally asking the room to shift. When things were finally settled, Godric had his back to Salazar's with the ax poised to strike. The chamber itself was still the Room of Hidden Things with the exception for the current occupants and its surrounding area. There was now a protected vault before them.

Salazar explained what he'd done, "I wanted a secure area that only we could access. Only to do so, we'd have to remove the diadem from the Room of Requirement entirely in order to reset our current location. I'd rather not risk exposing our school to this thing any more than it already has been. Therefore, instead of an entirely separate and newly developed space, we have a vault within the Room of Hidden Things. The school understands my intent and has built it accordingly. Open the door please."

Godric opened the door to the newly built secure vault and watched as his friend magically put the wooden box inside. Once he closed the door, Salazar began writing the wards of their past life over the door jamb and Godric began writing them over the other side to secure the hinges from tampering.

Once the job was done, the two friends inspected their work with satisfaction and pride. Godric grinned at Salazar before turning back to the hovering ghost and told her, "Now, about my new title, I think I prefer Uncail Godric…"

Google Translate Time:

Halò, Uncail Salazar = Hello, Uncle Salazar

Halò, Calman Beag = Hello, Little Dove