Godric did not stop moving for the entire day. He spent his time running and dodging and evading. His name being called out in the beginning gave them away and he got a good look at them. They got smarter and didn't call out to him in warning and instead he had to pay attention to his surroundings at all times. And everytime he escaped, his laughter followed behind him.
His pursuer: a dwarf dressed as cupid.
The dwarf's goal: to read valentine's day cards to him.
From twelve year olds.
From twelve year old boys.
Shuddering, Godric took another look around and found himself safe for the moment. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of the dwarf for about an hour so he figured they were due to show up at some point. He sat in one of the Herbology greenhouses in the hopes he would find Helga and escape the dwarf.
No luck on Helga, but so far leaving the dwarf behind seemed to be working.
He hadn't been able to find Rowena or Salazar either.
But he stayed still too long.
He wrapped his arms around himself, eyes closing tight.
He was fine. He was fine. It had been months and it hadn't been a big deal, but his memories of the fights and battles would not leave. He just had to keep moving. Had to keep smiling.
"Fay?"
Godric took in a shuddering breath, ready to snap, but the owner of the voice had his shoulders slumping and he turned to face Neville, who had been kneeling in the dirt with his hands messing around with one plant or another before he stood up. "Neville, haven't I told you to call me Ric?"
"Yeah." He scuffed his foot on the ground, eyes downcast. "But my Grandmother would not be ok with me doing that."
Godric blinked, head tilted and staring. "Well, don't tell her you call me Ric instead of Fay?"
He shook his head, whispering, "She'll find out. She always does."
Well, at least the boy finally told him why he called him Fay instead of Ric. Still. "Can you just not call me anything?" His nose wrinkled.
"But... it's a pretty name. Why wouldn't you want to go by it?"
"Would you like to be called by a pretty name?"
"No. But -" he paused, eyes narrowing before he nodded. "You don't like the pretty name. Ric is your middle name shortened?"
"It is."
"Can I call you by your full middle name? My grandmother would be ok with that. Probably."
Godric sighed, before nodding. "I... I can agree with that."
"What is it?"
"Oh, right. Richele."
Neville opened his mouth to say something, but then he shook his head and crouched back down to continue working with the plants. After a few seconds, Godric began to fidget.
He was fine. He just had to move.
When he went to leave with a wave to Neville, the boy whispered, "If you're looking for Megan she left for her common room."
"Bollocks." Godric crossed his arms then quickly dropped them as he looked down to glare at his chest before looking back at Neville who just seemed confused. "Well, I suppose I will have to be quite rude and distract you."
The boy chuckled and shook his head, "You don't have to," he murmured as he began digging a small hole. "A girl was with her, Megan called her Sal, and she said that she was going to classroom eleven. I've seen you with her a lot, so..."
Godric grinned and spun around in a quick circle. "Excellent! I'll distract Sal instead and save you from my exuberance!" He was the happy one. The loud one. He could do that. He was fine, he just had to make himself do it. If only it wasn't so tiring. How had he done it all the time in his last life?
He glanced back at the boy and found him looking almost sad at the plants in front of him, and decided to try something. "Do you want to partner with me during Herbology tomorrow?"
Neville looked up with wide eyes, "But you always partner with Megan. I can't take you from your friend."
"You're also a friend, Neville."
A blush dusted his cheeks. "But no one wants to ever work with me or sit with me. I get it. I mess up a lot."
"No you don't. You're just nervous. How about we sit together in Herbology and sometimes in Potions? Snape picks on you a lot and I can help you with any mistakes that crop up."
"You'll get in trouble!"
"If we're partnered together, he'll be more upset with me than -"
The door opened and Godric immediately looked up. There was a dementedidly-grinning dwarf, on his way to closing the door. "I found you! Now -"
Godric took a fortifying breath, forced a grin on his face, and took off running to the door, wand drawn, "Bye Neville! We'll discuss this more when this has all quieted down." He swished his wand and the closing door banged back open. The dwarf widened his stance and held his arms out as if to stop Godric with his body.
As if that would work.
Bending his knees, Godric sprung above the dwarf's arm, planted his foot against the door frame, and lunged outside. "You have to do better than that, Grag!"
The dwarf let out a sharp chuckle along with, "I'll catch you, lassie!"
And off Godric ran, darting in between students and professors - 'Five points for running, Miss Dunbar' from Snape and a 'Miss Dunbar, watch where you're going' from Flitwick when he almost ran into the part goblin - and made his way up the stairs.
Finally he made it to classroom eleven. Forcefully banging the door open, Godric happily made his way to a slightly perturbed Salazar. "Hello, my friend!"
"You're rather chipper today. I would have thought you hated this holiday. Rumor has it, you have quite a few suitors attempting to gain your attention."
Godric sat in front of Salazar, laying his chest across the desk with his hands outreached. Salazar simply moved his ink out of Godric's reach.
He could do this. "The holiday is abhorrent. Helga declares it interesting, but that people should show their affection more often than a day. Rowena is delighted in how the day came to be and how it has warped over time. You, I believe, would say that romance need not be dramatized and that the ones you cherish would already know and no one else needs to be a part of your declaration of affection."
"And you believe the whole notion a waste of time. You would rather have action and motion, not flowery language and soft touches." Salazar snorted, leaning back to eye Godric.
"I have never understood romance, Sal. It quite boggles my mind. No, I am not in a cheery mood because of the day, but because I have found myself the quarry of a very stubborn dwarf."
Salazar continued on whatever he was working on, but he had his head tilted towards Godric to show he was still listening. Godric attempted to get his breathing under control as he continued his tale. He just had to ignore everything else. He just had to focus on Sal.
"The dwarf's name is Grag and claims me most elusive. He has delivered all of his other valentine's except for mine and refuses to take another until all five of mine have been delivered. I have led him on a merry chase all day."
"And of course he didn't have time to simply yell the messages to you."
"Of course he did, but now he wants me to suffer. To sit still and be forced to listen." Godric waved his hand with a huff. "We'll see. So what are you in the process of creating?"
"Hmm."
"Very noncommittal." Godric straightened and tried to peer at what Salazar worked on, but the man moved the parchment away from his friend. "How rude. Fine then. I just came from one of the Herbology greenhouses and spoke with Neville. I'll be partnering with him in Herbology from now on. I also said I might partner with him some in Potions - either when Hermione works with Harry or Ron or when there are those rare times when there's a group of three. Would you be alright with me working with him on rare occasions, or have him join us if we do have three in a group?"
Salazar paused his work and looked at his friend with a blank expression. The two simply looked at each other for a few moments before Salazar finally, simply stated, "Yes."
Godric smiled at his friend and let the silence spread between them so Salazar could continue to work. He tapped his fingers idly on the wood.
He only could give Salazar a few minutes before he murmured, "Why is everything so vastly different?"
Salazar looked up completely from his notes. "Everything is different, yet nothing has changed."
"Exactly." Godric laid his cheek against his arm. "There are still children harmed for having magic, Sal. Except in the last war it was magicals hurting the children born from non magicals. It makes me sick."
Salazar hummed, and silence once more stretched between them. Interrupted only by the scratching of the quill on parchment. The hum of castle life surrounding him made Godric drowsy; the man was exhausted. He closed his eyes and simply floated, allowing the closeness of Salazar to lull him into an almost sleeping state.
He was fine.
He couldn't tell how long he lay there when the door slammed shut and a throat clearing had him bolting up.
There, in front of the closed door, was Grag. "Sal, did you-" Looking over at Salazar, Godric saw Salazar continuing to write away.
"Was I supposed to warn you? I thought this was a test of your skills against his?" Salazar smirked.
Floundering, Godric tried to quickly get to his feet, but his lethargic body decided to fight him and he ended up tumbling to the ground.
"Be my Valentine, I have sweets to share."
"Grag, please, no."
The dwarf threw the card he read at Godric, a grin splitting across his face in an almost feral way.
"Fay creatures are pretty and so are you,
Especially when you yelled at Snape-aroo."
"What? No, that's terrible," Godric stumbled to his feet and moved to Grag who flicked that card out. He ignored Salazar's snort of laughter. "I'll pay you not to continue."
"I told my mam that I can't sleep and she said that means I'm awake in someone else's dreams. So spend time with me awake and I'll be your Valentine."
"That's rubbish!"
Salazar had his hand covering his mouth as Grag bared his teeth and said, "I win, lassie. And I still have two to go."
"But if you finish you'll have to chase other people and read their cards! Do you really want to do that?" Godric grasped at straws in an attempt to sway the dwarf to see things his way and saw the diminutive creature look interested. "How much longer do you have to do this?"
"Two more hours."
"So, if you keep chasing me you won't have to read other people their cards. If you catch me again, you can read one and then we'll continue the chase."
Grag studied Godric before moving to the side, gesturing to the door, "Five seconds is all you get, lassie."
He was fine. He just needed to keep moving. If he moved far enough, fast enough, maybe he could ignore the black pit in his stomach. If he smiled more, laughed louder, he wouldn't have to hear the voice saying that he was never good enough.
Godric was up and moving before Grag finished his sentence, watching as Salazar picked up the Valentines from the floor. "Burn them, Sal!" He yelled from the hallway. And he was off again with Grag on his heels.