"Don't you two ever give up?"

"Nope," answered Twin One.

"Never," answered Twin Two.

"Sal?"

Salazar stopped in his tracks. Held a finger up as he closed his eyes. Took a calming breath. Then, with that same raised finger, he pointed to the door of the nearest unused classroom. "Inside. Now."

The twin terrors entered first followed by Godric and then Salazar. Once inside, Salazar closed the door and leaned against the wall beside it. He held his hands behind him, pressing his palm onto the stone wall to discreetly secure the room. Godric watched his actions with approval and stood - with his back towards a wall so he had a good vantage point and view of all occupants and the door - with hands on his hips. Godric didn't ask any more questions, he simply watched on curiously.

George and Fred Weasley were grinning widely. It was the first time in months that Salazar stopped long enough to speak to them. So, the moment the door closed the pair dropped to their knees to beg, "Please," they began in unison.

"We promise…"

"…to stop following…"

"…you around…"

"…if you just say yes."

Godric's gaze narrowed at the twin menaces; his fingers twitched, begging him to go for his weapon.

"And I promised to curse you both if you didn't stop," Salazar pointed his finger back and forth between the two boys, "this."

"Right." Twin One got up off his knees. "You may have mentioned that in passing…"

Twin Two followed suit. "No messing about, straight down to business then." Neither bothered to dust off their trousers but they did conjure four overstuffed, red chairs for everyone and took a seat without delay.

Twin One leaned forward resting his forearms on his thighs, then gestured to the chairs and waited. Salazar huffed at him, then resignedly pushed away from the wall and moved towards the seats. He wisely walked towards Godric rather than the twins before he sat down on the chair nearest Godric leaving the chair by the door empty. Salazar was secure in the knowledge that his friend would refuse to sit on principle. Godric slid into position to have Salazar's back, just as he predicted. Twin Two saw how defensive Godric was still behaving and held up his hands in surrender. "We're not here to fight. We're still trying to get her to join us."

"And I told you both, I wasn't interested."

"But you're perfect," Twin One said adamantly.

"I'm far from perfect," Salazar said, almost offended.

"You're as close to perfect as we've come upon," Twin Two countered.

"Be that as it may, I don't have the time to spare." Salazar smoothed his skirt over his knees and told them, "I simply have other obligations that take priority over pranks."

Godric's hands dropped to his side and he stepped forward asking, "I'm sorry… pranks? We're here… because of pranks?"

Salazar sighed in exasperation, because of course Godric would be on their side. Salazar tried to reason, "Yes… pranks that we do not have time to get involved with."

"I like pranks."

"I'm aware," Salazar stated.

"But Sal," Godric whined.

"We don't have the luxury of time, Ric." Salazar started to rise, but the twins scrambled from their chairs and were at his feet in a blink of an eye. Twin One had one hand, Twin Two the other and were back to begging. Salazar kept pulling his hands away, and every time he managed, they'd snatch the hand back and press it to their hearts or just pet it like a cat. The moment Salazar was able to think for two seconds and stop simply reacting, he sent a small pulse of electricity through his fingertips. That action caused a small shock to reach each of the twins who hissed in surprise. Salazar snapped, "Enough!"

Salazar stood and leveled his gaze at the terrors on the floor. "This meeting is over. The issue is resolved. I will not be joining you now, or ever." Twin One opened his mouth to speak and Salazar held out a warning finger. "No." Twin Two grinned and Salazar pointed his finger at him next. "No." Godric stood next to his best friend and grinned at the Weasley twins, but Salazar saw it and huffed. "No." Twin One and Twin Two grinned back at Godric, and Salazar threw up his hands, but refused to concede. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

- - - - Founders - - - -

The two friends walked into the Room of Requirement. They had asked for the specific room that contained the diadem and diary. While they weren't surprised to see Helena floating near the vault door staring inside, Salazar was surprised to note that more items had been added recently to the Room of Hidden Things and a few were propped up against the vault walls. Salazar let Helena know she wasn't alone by speaking before they came near, "Halò, Calman Beag."

"Uncail Salazar, you came back!" Helena smiled over her shoulder at the two walking towards her. "Halò, Uncail Godric."

"Halò, Helena." Godric grinned widely.

Salazar searched his pockets for vials and found what he was looking for. "I'm not certain what is tainting that thing. I am having trouble diagnosing it without involving your mother or destroying the bloody thing."

Helena's ghostly figure slumped a bit, her smile dimmed and she looked into the vault window at the wooden box holding the diadem. She took a deep - unnecessary - breath and said, "If that's how we have to do it, then I suppose we have no real choice." She looked imploringly at Salazar. "I miss her, Uncail Salazar."

"And she misses you," Salazar said.

Godric moved towards the vault and looked into the window. "This is new."

Salazar moved to his friend's side and noted a second window. The vault was now split into two sections. Within the second area was the damaged diary. "Interesting. One chamber for those items that require cleansing, another for those that have been cleansed." Salazar nodded his approval.

"The second door will need runes."

"Agreed, let's cleanse the diadem first."

Godric looked up at his friend and asked, "How do you want to do this?"

Salazar pointed out the slot near the door. "I can introduce gasses and liquids through there. If the first doesn't work, then I have to be careful with whatever I put in next so it doesn't react negatively."

"Like an explosion," Godric said with a nod.

"Precisely," Salazar agreed. "Bubblehead."

Godric glanced at Salazar and watched as he cast the charm upon himself, then followed suit. As always, Godric would watch for any dangers to his friend.

Salazar removed his dragonhide gloves from his enlarged pockets and slipped them on. From the bag on his shoulder, Salazar removed a crystal vial and handled it gingerly, careful not to spill, tilt, shake, or drop it. After handing his bag to Godric, Salazar moved forward to the vault and hesitated long enough to take a calming breath.

With one hand Salazar opened the slot, with the other he pushed the vial inside. Stepping back, Salazar allowed the flap to close and seal. The vial dropped. Godric slipped Salazar's bag over his head, strapping it across his body when he stepped forward. The two friends, with the ghost hovering overhead, watched as the crystal broke. The liquid immediately bubbled and turned into a gas.

"Come on," Salazar encouraged. "Come on..."

The trapped gas inside the vault filled the small area blocking their view. Nothing happened for a few minutes until a piercing scream was heard from inside. Salazar stiffened at the familiar sound. Godric immediately had his wand out and took a fighting stance. "That's Tom."

"Yes" Salazar growled through gritted teeth. "That idiotic fool." Salazar sighed in annoyance at his imbecilic descendant. "How many of these things does he have? We need to find out what they are and what they do."

Helena dropped until she was eye level with the two and asked, "Is it clean?"

"I believe so," Salazar admitted. "Since the diadem had the same vile feel as the diary, I felt basilisk venom was the key to cleansing it much like Ismanna cleansed the diary. The accelerant sped up the decomposition of the basilisk venom, causing it to break down and transforming it from a liquid into a poisonous gas."

They waited until the fumes cleared. It took quite some time, but finally they could see inside the vault room. There, sitting innocently on the floor, was the diadem sans the wooden box it was once held in. Godric looked from the diadem to Salazar and back asking, "Now what?"

Salazar sighed heavily and admitted, "We can't go in there yet. The fumes may look to be cleared, but it is still highly toxic in that room. I will have to wait for a week before I can enter and run further diagnostics. I can't risk contaminating the school by opening that door." He turned to look at Helena and grimaced. "I'm sorry, Calman Beag. I won't be able to tell you if it is perfectly cleansed or not. While I do believe it worked since we heard that same cry before..."

"That's okay, Uncail Salazar." Helena rose from the ground and twirled in the air. "It's clean enough for me. I can see Mamaidh again!" As the ghost sped away, they could hear her call back, "Tapadh leat!"

The ghost was gone from the room and the two friends shared a bewildered look.

"Hot chocolate?"

Salazar chuckled, "Yes, let's get some hot chocolate."

- - - - Bonus Scene - Rowena - - - -

Rowena was walking to the library as there were some books that she wanted to look into for research purposes. Rowena had a number of projects still in the works. At the top of her list was to create a version of the ring for Ismanna. Something that could get wet when Ismanna played without falling off and getting lost. Something that could be somehow attached to the basilisk without hurting her. Then there were the rings themselves. While they could communicate with brief messages and were notified when someone entered the laboratory, they still needed a monitoring system, a homing system, and/or a locator spell. Rowena should probably speak with Salazar about monitoring someone's health… but the other-

"Màthair?"

The soft, hesitant, familiar voice took her by surprise. Rowena stopped in her tracks and quickly looked around. There was so much hope in her voice when she whispered the name of her daughter, "Helena?"

A small hand was suddenly in hers and Rowena jumped in surprise. Her heart was pounding madly in her chest and she looked at the young girl beside her. Tears fell in her disappointment, but Luna put a finger to her lips and shook her head. Without a word, Luna guided Rowena into the nearest empty classroom. When the door closed, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have interrupted, but perhaps your reunion would be better in private."

Rowena realized that Luna hadn't been talking to her. She was looking over Rowena's shoulder. Quickly Rowena turned and there, hovering nearby, was her beloved daughter. More tears came unbidden, but words failed her. Rowena covered her mouth with her free hand and she tried not to blubber unbecomingly.

Luna gave Rowena's hand a gentle squeeze before she released her hold on the woman. As Helena came near, the small girl skirted towards the door on silent feet. The ghost turned her attention to the blonde. "Thank you, Luna. You are a good friend."

The second-year blonde smiled beautifully at Helena and gave Rowena a parting wave before she let herself out of the room. Rowena hadn't fully realized the girl had left, she only had eyes for her daughter. "Helena, it's really you…" Rowena gasped out, "I have missed you so."

"I have missed you too, Màthair." Helena looked down and gave her mother a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry to not have come sooner. I did something I'm not proud of…"

"I've forgiven you long ago, silly girl. I never liked that stupid tiara. It was simply my latest creation. I'm sorry if I didn't pay enough attention to you. I get a bit too focused when I have new projects… I still do… I'm trying to do better…"

Helena laughed. "Thank you, but… there's something more. Uncail Salazar, well, he helped me fix things so I can come see you with, at least, less guilt… but I have to tell you about the boy and the stupid thing that I did."

Google Translate Time:

Halò, Calman Beag = Hello, Little Dove

Uncail = Uncle

Mamaidh = Mummy

Tapadh leat = Thank you

Màthair = Mother