5Bats Chaser Two (Prompts: 1. (word) happy, 11. (quote) We accept the love we think we deserve." – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 15. (creature) Dementors)
One Million Words Competition: 7,067 words
If You Dare Challenge: 833. Hard Not To Cry
I've never written a founders fic before, so since this round was about Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, I decided to write about the Founders Era. Also, the language is like common English, not old English, so be prepared. Sorry, but I just really can't write old English.
AU: rebel!Helga
Book Quotes Boot Camp Challenge: 48. There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the lights of all lights. – Dracula.
Spell Competition: Impervius
Wand Wood Competition: Alder
Delirium Quotes Challenge: 2. "You can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes."
Disney Characters Competition: Mickey Mouse
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Warning: Swearing
For You
"Daddy, why is our family animal a badger? Row said that hers is an eagle. Godric's is a lion, and Sal's is a snake. Badger's are so lame, and eagles, lions, and snakes are way cooler!"
"Well Helga, badgers are actually very smart creatures. They dig holes, and have tunnels all under the ground! Some of those tunnels can even get to centuries old! These tunnels are called setts, and are super complex," Helga's father Henry explained patiently.
"Yeah, but what makes badger's cool? Sal told me that we Hufflepuff's have badgers as our animals because we're below everyone else, and badgers are always underground," Helga pumped her chubby little fists in the air in anger. "We had a big fight over that and didn't talk for one whole week. I'm still kind of mad at him."
"Now that wasn't very nice of him," Helga's mother Harmony declared in her gentle voice, almost teasing her.
"I know! So tell me cool things about badgers so I can tell them to him," Helga cried.
"Now Helga, be patient. In life, the only way for everything to be happy is if you're kind and patient to everyone," Henry said in a soothing voice.
That was the start to her rebellion against her parents.
"Now Helga, if you want to receive the Hufflepuff Cup, you have to prove that you're kind and patient to others. That is the ritual of the Hufflepuff's," Harmony said smiling down at her.
"What if I don't want to be kind and patient?" Helga asked.
"Then you will never learn to use magic properly, and never learn the true functions of the Hufflepuff Cup," Henry said sternly.
"Why is the Hufflepuff Cup such a big secret anyway? No one knows about ours, but everyone knows about the sword of Gryffindor, the Diadem of Ravenclaw, as well as the Slytherin locket. Why can't I just tell my friends about it?" Helga whined.
"That will be revealed when you're older. You're not ready to know about it yet," Harmony said patiently.
"I'm old enough!" Helga huffed.
"You're only twelve, Helga. We'll tell you when you're of age," Henry added.
"That's a whole five years away! That's not fair! Why can't you just tell me now? Why, did it kill someone or something? And if so, why can't you tell me anyway?"
"We'll tell you when you're of age," Harmony said with a firm voice.
Helga gave a scream of frustration and stalked out of the room.
"We should make a school, guys!" Helga exclaimed.
Row put down her book and looked at Helga in surprise. Godric and Sal stopped tossing the quaffle back and forth and turned to Helga.
"What do you mean?" Row asked.
"We could do it, you know! Sal, you and Godric are already getting recognized for being so powerful. Row, everyone knows that you're the smartest 16 year old out there. And I'm… everyone knows I'm the best at cooking!" Helga grinned.
"It's not that easy to start a school, you know…" Godric said.
"I like the idea! We could get teachers to teach subjects… this could be an actual formal school! Muggers have stuff like this! I've read about it. Everyone in the Wizarding world is home-schooled, so this would be a nice and fresh idea! I can get the school itself… father will just order people to make it. Godric, you can get the teachers for us, and decide the subjects. Row, you can design the building and the curriculum for the students. Huffy, you can be in charge of the food. I can do the rest, since my father will be the one basically getting the school," Sal said.
"Don't call me Huffy, how many times have I told you?" Helga blushed.
"You know you like it!" Sal winked at her.
"Stop flirting! Anyway, aren't we too young? We're not even of age yet!" Godric stated.
"Then we'll wait a year. Then we can start it," Row grinned. "This is quite a good idea."
"So what's the secret? Why does no one know about the Cup?" Helga burst out. "I'm of age now. You have to tell me."
Harmony sighed. "What did we teach you all those years back? You must be patient Helga."
"Whatever, I can be patient later. Tell me!"
"It all gets down to the powers of the Cup. If someone knew the powers of the Cup, then everyone would try to steal it. Anyway, it breaks Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration. If you put something into it, it gets turned into whatever food/drink you want. You can also teleport food through this," Henry explained.
"Is that it? That's the huge secret?" Helga asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes, that's it. But isn't it amazing? Don't you understand what it means? It means that you can transfigure food with anything! A rock, or a stick, it doesn't matter! It breaks Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration! If anyone knew, they'd kill for it!" Harmony said in a hushed tone.
Helga rolled her eyes. The Hufflepuff's were pathetic. But she could make the amazing.
"Row, did you finish the plans for the school? Also, what should we call it?" Sal asked.
"How about Pigfarts?" Helga suggested. She burst into laughter.
"How'd you even come up with that?" Godric asked, flabbergasted.
"I don't know… I just somehow thought of it," Helga burst into laughter again.
"How about Hogwarts? Another word for 'pig' is 'hog', and 'warts' rhymes with 'farts' and is just as bad. Hogwarts doesn't sound too bad, does it?" Row asked.
Helga couldn't stop laughing. "Doesn't sound too bad? It sounds terrible!"
Godric started laughing too, and gradually, Sal and Row joined in.
"So, anyway, Row, did you finish the plans for Hogwarts?" Sal asked with a serious face.
"Are we seriously going to call it that?" Godric asked, letting out a giggle.
"Yes," the three of them replied in unison before bursting into another set of laughter.
"Huffy, let's go to Madam Malkin's to make robes for Hogwarts," Sal called.
Helga blushed. "Don't call me that!"
Sal just smirked at her. They walked towards Diagon Alley, the place where everyone shopped for things; whether it was food, wands, brooms, or clothes.
They entered the shop together, where Madam Malkin smiled at them. "Welcome," she called.
The shop was a family shop, handed down to Madam Malkin by the previous Madam Malkin, and to be handed down to the next Madam Malkin.
"What do the famous Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff need?" she smiled at them.
"Well, we're thinking of starting a school," Helga said.
"And we need robes for it," Sal said before Madam Malkin could say anything.
"What kind of robes?" she asked. "I must say, you two look very good together. Is it just you two, or are your other two friends, Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw starting this school with you?"
Sal glanced at Helga, smiling. He took her hand, hidden from Madam Malkin's view by the counter.
"It's not just us, it's Godric and Rowena too," Helga added, blushing.
Sal squeezed her hand. "We want spring/fall robes, as well as winter robes. And of course dress robes for the occasional ball. Can we have one hundred for 11 year olds, one hundred for 12 year olds, and so on until 17 year olds? Oh, actually, have fifty for girls, fifty for boys, for each year. Oh, also, for the ties, can we have twenty five green ones, twenty five yellow ones, twenty five red ones, and twenty five blue ones for each year?"
"Oh, and actually, you can make the sizes for when the students come here, so you can measure them and see what sizes to give them, instead of making them by years," Helga added.
"So seven hundred; three hundred fifty of them for girls, three hundred fifty of them for boys; 175 red ties, 175 blue ties, 175 yellow ties, and 175 green ties, and that's just for spring/fall robes, another seven hundred winter robes, and another seven hundred dress robes, all in the same manner?" Madam Malkin asked.
"Yes," they confirmed.
"How'd you think about the four different colours?" Madam Malkin asked. "That's very creative!"
"Well…" Helga trailed off.
One day earlier…
"What colour should the ties be?" Helga asked.
"I think red," Godric said. "It's a brave colour, don't you think?"
"No, we should have blue ties! Blue stands for wisdom, and we're making a school; a place for learning!" Row put in.
"But green is the colour of muggle cash! Money is what we need for the ties and for everything else!" Sal said.
"Well personally, I like yellow. Yellow is the colour of honey, and honey is my favourite food." Helga grinned. "Hey, I have an idea! How about we have four different colours? Isn't that cool? And we can sort the students into the four different colours and those could be their teams – no, their houses! They can sleep with their houses, and have Quidditch battles and contests with them!"
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Godric said, beaming.
"But how do we sort them?" Sal asked.
"By personalities. Since I'm the smartest, blue can be for the smart and analytical ones. Since Godric is stupid and rash, red can be for the stupid and rash people–" Row said.
"Hey it's not stupid and rash, it's being brave!" Godric pouted.
"Whatever, same thing. Anyway, since Sal loves money, people who love money can go into the green group—"
"I don't love money that much! And can't people be smart and analytical and like money anyway? Or be stupid and rash and like money?" Sal asked.
"I'm not stupid and rash!" Godric burst out.
"Fine, the people who like to manipulate others can go into the green group," Row said, ignoring Godric.
"I do not like to manipulate people. Well maybe. A little bit," Sal grinned at them.
"Anyway, lastly, since Helga's the peace maker out of us four, the peaceful and kind ones can go into yellow," Rowena concluded.
"I am not a peace maker! And I'm not kind!" Helga frowned.
"Yes you are!" the rest of them said in harmony.
"… let's just say that we all had different opinions on which colour the ties should be, so we decided that we should have all four," Sal said.
"You guys are practically a couple! Why don't you go out already?" Godric asked.
Helga blushed. "W-well…"
"You guys look really good together, and anyway, you both like each other! Just kiss and call yourself a couple," Row smiled.
"Okay," Sal said, grinning.
Helga turned to him in surprise and stood rooted in her spot as he leaned down and pecked her right on the lips. He pulled away, blushing.
"Row… did you just see that?" Godric asked, shocked.
"Yeah… they just snogged… if you can call that a snog…" Row said, astonished.
"No, not that… Sal just blushed. HE BLUSHED! Let's have a party, its Sal's first blush!" Godric threw his arms around Sal jumped up and down excitedly.
Helga blushed, but she couldn't help but give a little smile. She took Sal's hand in her own, and looked up to him and smiled.
"This is just too cute," Row said, beaming at them.
His first blush out of many to come.
"Have you proven to us that you are worthy of the cup? No. You can not have it yet," Harmony said.
"But I need it! It's an emergency! The parents are coming to see if the school is good, and we need food, right away!" Helga pleaded.
"Then simply make some!" Harmony replied, turning away.
"Mother!" Helga begged.
"My answer is no." Harmony walked away from her.
Helga sneaked into the room. She had poured some Sleeping Draught Potion into both her parents' wine, and they had assuredly fallen asleep soundly.
She waved her wand and spoke the secret incantation, and the vault containing the Hufflepuff Cup was revealed.
She took it out silently as she held her breath, even though she knew that both her parents were asleep.
She closed the vault and it faded out of view. She held the Hufflepuff Cup in her trembling hands, gleaming golden with the badger engraved on its side with a few jewels outlining it.
She sneaked out of the room and Apparated to Row's house.
When she woke, it was to a loud cry.
"What is it?" she asked groggily, blinking her eyes tiredly.
"Helga, your parents… they've both died!" Row said, eyes wide in fear.
"What?!"
The opening of Hogwarts was postponed until a later date, when things were better.
Helga was in a state of shock. She had just been trying to help… but… things had just gotten worse.
What her parents hadn't told her had been the thing to kill their lives. The truth was, once the Hufflepuff Cup was removed from the owner, they would immediately die. The Hufflepuff Cup wasn't a good thing; it was a curse. Sure, it had good magical properties about itself. Sure, it defied Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration. But that wasn't the reason that they kept it a secret from everyone.
The reason they kept it a secret from everyone was because if they didn't; people could possibly take it, for any of the reasons, and end up with the owners dead.
Which was what had happened, in Helga's case.
She hadn't told anyone, because now, she was the owner of the Hufflepuff Cup. She couldn't possibly allow anyone to take it away from her.
She had no idea how the curse had come to be, but she knew that the owner had to be of Hufflepuff blood.
How she knew this? She had found a letter inside the vault – one that she had not seen earlier – one that she should have seen. A letter to her. From her beloved parents who were now dead.
Because of her.
Helga sat numbly next to where her parents had just been burned. It was all her fault.
People came to give her their consolations and solacement, but she couldn't even reply to them.
She hung her head in shame. All because of her greed, her parents had died. That was when she decided she had to be patient, kind, and selfless, just like her parents had told her. If she was not, it could result in other people's deaths.
Everyone had left hours ago, yet here she was, still sitting in the same place.
"Helga, are you okay?" A clear, calm, and comforting voice said.
She looked up to see Sal, looking down at her in worry. Sal almost never called her Helga; only when he was mad or especially worried.
"I-it's… so hard not to cry," she said, voice cracking.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, and refused to acknowledge the fact that her eyes were watering.
Eventually, she blinked, and two teardrops ran down her face.
Then, Sal was hugging her, rocking her back and forth gently, patting her back and murmuring comforting words into her ear.
"Its okay… its okay… it's not your fault… its okay… you're going to be okay… it's not your fault…"
"B-but it is!" she cried into his shoulder.
She couldn't stop sobbing; at the loss of her parents, at the realization of their deaths, at the realization of the curse, and at the realization of her betrayal to them.
"It's not! Why would it be your fault? It's not like you killed them," he said soothingly.
"But I did! I took the Cup! And it killed them!" she sobbed.
Sal was silent, but he did not stop rocking her body and patting her back. He waited for her to stop crying.
Her tears slowly slowed, but the huge lump in her throat did not disappear.
"Slytherin's have your locket. Row's family have their diadem. Gryffindor has their sword. And we have our cup. It's meant to be a secret; for no one to know," Helga took a deep breath. "It breaks Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration. If you put anything into it, it turns into food. You can teleport food through it. It's quite amazing. But that's not the reason why it's a secret.
"The owner of the Cup, in this case, my parents, will always carry a curse that comes with the Cup. If the Cup is removed from them, then they will die. I don't know why, but it's true. We needed the food desperately, and I had no ingredients. My parents refused to give it to me. I fed them Sleeping Draught potion and stole it. Then I Apparated to Row's place.
"That resulted with their death. It is my fault. I was greedy, and I stole it. The curse activated, and they died. Now the curse is on me, and if the Cup is removed from me, I will die. I killed them, and I'm so scared right now with the thought that I might die at any time." Helga finished in a hoarse whisper.
"Marry me, then," Sal said, getting down on his knees, looking up at her.
She looked to him in surprise.
"Marry me, and we can be together forever. I'll protect the Cup with all my life and we can always be together," Sal continued. "You'll be safe. I promise you that with my life, I'll protect it, and I'll protect you. I'll make you happy. Marry me."
"But how can I be happy when my parents just died? How can I be happy when I just killed my parents?" Helga burst out, the tears gathering up in her eyes again.
"You can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes. You'll learn to forgive yourself. You'll learn to be happy, and to live for them. You can still be unhappy sometimes, but you'll learn to live happily, because that's what they would have wanted," Sal took her hand in his.
"What if… what if the Dementors come for me?" Helga asked in fright. "I slaughtered my two parents… what if they come for me?"
"They won't. And if they do, I'll slaughter them," Sal said. "So please marry me."
"… I… I don't know. I think it's too soon," Helga said, wiping her eyes and looking away.
"I understand. When you're ready, I'll ask again," Sal said, looking slightly disappointed. "Just remember… there are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the lights of all lights. So if you go out, where will I be, in the darkness? I need you, because I, above all people, am the darkest of all darknesses."
A few years passed, and Row announced that she was marrying a Calyse. Calyse's weren't known for their strong ancestors, in fact, they were frowned upon by society.
Most people disapproved of them, and they were right to. They were quite a nasty bunch of people, and everyone was shocked and surprised when they heard that Rowena Ravenclaw, a famous scholar, and one of the smartest witches of their generation, was marrying a Calyse.
Row, Godric, Sal, and Helga were now twenty-two. A lot of time had passed, and Helga was getting better. She was almost just like normal.
"Why did she marry him? She and Godric were perfect for each other!" Helga exclaimed.
"We accept the love we think we deserve," Sal said, deep in thought.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Well… Row is ashamed of herself, and for always thinking of herself as higher than others because she is smarter than them. She doesn't think she deserves Godric. She loves Godric, and Godric loves her… but… he's a great guy, you know. She doesn't think she deserves such a good person." Sal said. "I'm also pretty sure that Row thinks she's done some huge sin or something. Godric told me that he asked her to go out with him several times, but she denied him every time."
"He's sure got guts, to do that," Helga said, smiling slightly. "Sounds just like Godric."
Row came to Helga's place, beaten up with bruises all over her face and body, as well as a cut across her forehead.
"What happened?" Helga asked in fright. She quickly sent her Patronus to Sal and Godric to tell them what happened.
Row collapsed onto Helga's bed. She tried to mumble something, but her words were incoherent.
Helga quickly muttered healing spells, and closed up Row's cuts and healed her bruises. There were no more physical injuries left, but that didn't change the fact that Rowena was worn out.
Row also had a fever.
By the time Sal and Godric got there, she was fast asleep.
"What happened?" Godric asked in worry.
He sat gently beside her, and flipped around the wet towel on her forehead. He moved her body so that she was lying in a more comfortable position.
"I don't know… I healed her and then she fell asleep," Helga said anxiously.
"That fucker," Sal swore.
"What is it?" Godric asked.
"It's was Calyse. I should have known. I heard some rumours about him beating up his previous wife, but I didn't think it was real. But Row's in this state… I'm going to kill him." Sal muttered, teeth clenched tightly.
Godric punched the wall, and shook out his fist in pain and anger. "Where does he live? I'm going to screw him over that fucker no one messes with my Row WHERE DOES HE LIVE?"
"Calm down, let's wait until Row wakes up so that we can confirm it," Helga said, putting a hand on Godric's shoulder.
He relaxed and nodded, hands still in fists. "You guys go rest; I'll take care of her right now."
Helga and Sal nodded. "Wake me up after three hours," Sal said.
"And wake me up after another three hours," Helga said to Sal.
Helga and Sal fell asleep; Helga sitting on her sofa, head leaned back, and Sal with his head on her lap.
"What happened?" Helga asked to the now awake Row.
"It was nothing. Thanks for healing me, I just… fell," Row said offhandedly.
"No one could fall and get all those bruises and cuts," Helga said firmly.
"Row, it was Calyse, right? Just tell us if he's threatening you or something, and we'll go beat the shit out of him, okay?" Godric declared, tucking a curl of her hair behind her ear.
"It wasn't him! I just fell, okay?!" Row said defensively.
"Here, drink this," Sal said, handing her some water.
"Thank you," Row replied, sighing in relief as she drank it.
"Did you or did you not get beat up by Calyse?" he asked, after she had finished drinking.
"N-I did," she said, then clapped her hands to her mouth. "Hey, did you feed me—"
"Yes, we did. Why didn't you want us to know?" he asked.
"It's not your problem! I don't want you guys to worry anyway," Row said, then her eyes widened in realization of what she said.
She clapped her hands tighter around her mouth. Godric gently pried her hands away from her mouth.
"Why did you marry him?" Godric asked.
"Because I deserve him," she said. "Stop, let go of me!"
"No. Do you love me?" he asked. "In a man woman way?"
"Yes!" she said. "Happy?"
"Why won't you marry me then?" he begged.
"Because I don't deserve you! You're too good for me!" she exclaimed. "I've done terrible things, I—"
Helga clapped her hand on Row's mouth. "That's enough, guys."
Row's eyes practically beamed with relief.
"Thank you," she said after Helga removed her hand.
"We're sorry for having to drug you… but… we knew you weren't going to tell us the truth, and we really wanted to know. We really care about you, Row. Now, I don't want to order you around, but I suggest you file a divorce with Calyse, and stop saying that you don't deserve Godric. I mean, Godric's stupid and brash, he's practically as worthless as you think you are," Helga said, sending an apologetic glance at Godric. "Anyway, you're not worthless, at all. It doesn't matter what you did in the past, because the present is the present. The present you is not the past you. Finally, I suggest that you stop thinking that you are worthless. Because you aren't."
"We wouldn't care about worthless people. Which is why we don't care about Godric," Sal joked, grinning at Godric.
"Hey!" he smacked Sal on the arm.
"Thanks guys… I'll do what you said. Except don't expect me to accept your date request right away," Row said, smiling a little at Godric.
"Who said I'll request a date?" he asked.
She froze. "Well—"
"I might request a marriage," he said, grinning. "So you better be prepared!"
She relaxed, and smiled at him.
"That was a good thing you told Row," Sal said.
"I know," Helga said, smiling at him.
"You should tell that to yourself, because you are not the past self that you once were. You are a much better and stronger person. You know that, right?" Sal asked.
"… yeah, I think I've accepted it now. I think I've forgiven myself." Helga grinned at him.
"Then… will you marry me now?" he asked, smiling shyly at her.
"Yes," she breathed, beaming at him as she leaned up to kiss him.
"Guess what?" Row asked excitedly.
"What?" Helga asked.
"Godric asked me to marry him!" Row squealed.
Helga was shocked. She had never seen Row like this. "That's great! Congratulations!"
"Who said I accepted" she asked, smirking.
"Well obviously you did. You guys are meant to be!" Helga grinned.
"Okay, fine, I did. He gave me a half sapphire, half ruby ring, blue and red like our family colours!" she grinned.
"That's so romantic!" Helga smiled at her beaming friend.
"I've been meaning to tell you guys… but you know, everyone's been preoccupied… but once we all get married… we should continue with the Hogwarts idea," Sal said. "You know, Madam Malkin kept on sending me letters about the robes and how she got the materials, but they were just waiting there and whether to use them for other things or to save them for us. I told her to save them for us and that I'd take them for now. So they're sitting in my manor, randomly."
"I totally forgot about Hogwarts…" Helga trailed off. "After my parents died… we totally just pushed it back and totally forgot about it."
"The building is probably really dusty right now," Godric said, wincing.
"Nope, I have someone cleaning it once every other week," Sal said. "Of course, once the students move in, I'll hire a janitor to clean every day."
"When are we going to get married, though? We need the date proper so we can think about Hogwarts. Also, we need to student's parents to come…" Row trailed off.
"We can arrange for that!" Sal grinned.
"Now you may kiss the brides!"
Godric and Sal both leaned into kiss Row and Helga, and the audience hooped and laughed, shooting up sparks with their wands.
They had done a double wedding, to save time and money so that they could hurry up and get Hogwarts started.
The wedding concluded with lots of cake, laughter and happiness.
The day after, they were already planning for Hogwarts – no honeymoon required. They could always go later, after they got their plans organized.
"Helga, how's the food going along?" Sal asked, pulling her to the side.
"Well, I have house elves to make the food. I don't have anything for the transportation of the food though. I mean… we could always use the Cup, but…" she trailed off.
"No, we're not using the Cup. It's too dangerous," Sal shook his head firmly.
"Then how are we going to transport the food?" Helga asked.
"We can always just charm something else to do it," Sal suggested.
"But charm it with what? There's no spells yet that do anything like that," Helga said.
"Then we'll make one," Sal said firmly.
"Hey guys what are you talking about?" Godric asked.
"Oh, we were just discussing how to transport the food," Sal said, smiling at Godric. "So we're planning on trying to make a spell to charm an object that will transport the food."
"That's a good idea! I never even thought of the transporting food problem. We can charm the tables so that the food gets transported there!" Godric grinned.
"How about you and I work on the spell?" Sal asked.
"Sure," Godric grinned.
Sal turned to Helga and smiled. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "See? It's going to be okay," he whispered to her.
"Thank you," she smiled gratefully at him.
Godric looked curiously at them, but just smiled and turned to walk away to Row.
"So we should have a place outside of Hogwarts, but near it to go and buy things. Kind of like Diagon Alley, but one accessible by Hogwarts where they can go to buy supplies and food," Row said.
"That's a good idea! There can be bars there too, and regular customers, not only students can go there!" Godric grinned.
"Which is why we can call it Hogsmeade," Helga smirked.
"That sounds good to me," Row laughed.
"It'd be difficult to go all the way to Diagon Alley, so somewhere close to Hogwarts but not close enough so that it would be within the barrier," Sal said thoughtfully.
"We can have a path to there, and we can have a visit there once a month or something like that," Helga said, smiling. "It'd be a good rest for the teachers as well."
"I like that idea! Also, I think Hogwarts should be really fortified, just in case intruders come. We can have statues that are normally just statues but are charmed to react to a spell so that they can use their swords and stab people," Godric said, grinning.
"Godric!" Row scolded.
"No, but I'm serious. It'd be good. Also, we should have Apparating on grounds impossible, unless we undo it in a certain area or the whole castle. And entering the school impossible unless they have permission from someone. And obviously it must have protection from Muggles," Godric said.
"I think that's a good idea. Also, I think that we should have gardens and greenhouses, as well as a Quidditch pitch," Sal said.
"Greenhouses! We can get vegetables from there, as well as other healing plants for the Medical Wing and plants for Potions," Helga grinned.
"This is going to be great!" Row beamed.
"So see here, I have a secret room charmed on the seventh floor – something that students will only find if they pace back and forth three times in front of that area, see, here, thinking of something, and that room will change to fit what they need. It'll be totally secret, only discovered if told or by accident," Row explained to them, pointing at her plans.
"That's genius! Like if you really need to go to the washroom," Godric grinned.
"The hospital wing is here, you know, because there's always those students that get hurt, and we can have a nurse here. Also, the library is here," Row pointed out.
"I really like the plans. We saw it before, but seeing it again is refreshing. But did you add the secret room?" Sal asked. "I don't remember seeing that."
"Yeah, the charms were pretty complicated but I really liked the ideas. Also, I added some secret entrances. There are ten of them, three of them being in the Room of Requirements, depending on which kind of room you ask for. Also, they could lead to Hogsmeade, just in case of an emergency where they could escape, or even enter the school," Row explained.
"I like it!" Helga smiled. "It's a good idea."
"So are the students all going to be purebloods?" Godric asked.
"I think that we should have muggleborns, purebloods, as well as halfbloods. Everyone should learn how to control their magic, right? We can send people to tell the muggleborns and the halfbloods who don't know, and send letters to the purebloods," Helga said.
"I don't like that idea," Sal said. "A lot of the purebloods already don't like halfbloods and muggleborns, so it'll cause a lot of controversy."
"But still, won't this be a good opportunity to changethat controversy?" Godric asked.
"I agree," Row said.
"Well majority wins!" Helga said cheerfully.
"See? Look at this. A lot of the parents sent letters telling us that they don't like the idea of their children going to school with halfbloods and muggleborns," Sal said.
"Well a lot of people sent letters saying that they liked the idea!" Helga pointed out crossly.
"We can do it for this year, but if there are problems, I'm going to give up my position as founder of Hogwarts," Sal said.
"You can't be serious!" Godric gasped. "Why would you do that? We all put in so much effort to make this! You can't pull out, just like that!"
"Well technically, I can," Sal smiled grimly. "I'm just not comfortable with having halfbloods and muggleborns at our school. Having muggleborns and halfbloods at our school means their muggle parents knowing about magic, and that can lead to problems."
"Well we can just make sure they don't spread the word around," Row said.
"And how would we do that? I just don't like that idea. I don't want to argue with you guys about it, so if there are problems this year, then I'll leave," Sal said.
"But… we're married!" Helga exclaimed.
"Well… I love you, Helga, but… this is something that's important to me. I just feel that this is the best option. If I see problems at the school, I can't help but feel it's my fault for not making it a pureblood only school," Sal said.
Helga ran a hand through her hair. "Salazar…"
"I'm sorry, Huffy," Sal looked away. "Let's just hope this year is successful."
Hogwarts was now renown across the Wizarding community, but there was still the controversy with purebloods, muggleborns – now nicknamed 'mudbloods', and halfbloods.
Some purebloods just couldn't stand the others, and this caused lots of arguments, fights, and competition. Those purebloods ended up in Slytherin – the green group. Rowena had charmed a hat to look into their brains and choose the right group for them, and it was the sorting hat that decided what kind of personalities each group had, after taking a look into each of the founders' minds.
The Sorting Hat was also a great adviser, if they had problems, they'd just put him on, and he would advise them with all the knowledge that he had.
Since Slytherin had so many purebloods, it caused a rivalry against all the other houses, and the other houses came to dislike Slytherin, and Slytherin them. Of course, there was the rare Slytherin who was a good person, much like Sal himself was.
Sal, watching all this, felt the shame in whom he was as a person. He tried his best to change their ways, but it didn't work that easily.
Helga, watching all this, was torn apart from the decision of whether or not to leave Hogwarts with him, for love, or to stay with her friends at Hogwarts.
In the end, she chose her friends, although she had a long and hearty argument with him.
"We're husband and wife, Sal! Didn't you say you'd protect me forever, that day? That day when we mourned my parents? I thought you promised that we'd always be together!" Helga said, the day that Sal started packing.
"I'm sorry, Huffy. I love you, you know I do. I really want to protect you, but some things are a priority," he replied.
"A priority? Shouldn't I be your priority? Seeing as I'm your wife, and since you promised? When did you become like this? If you really loved me, you'd stay with me." Helga argued furiously.
"I do love you. But can't you just trust me on my decision, just this once?" Sal turned to her heatedly. "I don't like this, and I'm not comfortable with it. I don't want to lose my friendship with Godric or Row, and with you. This is the best option for me."
"But is it really?" Helga's voice cracked. "If you leave, I'll probably never be able to see you again. Our love will be over. Sal, I'm pregnant! What about our child?"
Sal froze. "You're… you're pregnant?"
"Yes, I'm pregnant! I'm sorry, but is that the only thing that will make you stay? Because in that case, I'd rather you leave."
Sal closed his eyes and sat down on the bed. "Helga… when were you pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know until recently. I was going to tell you, but this came up." Helga sighed. "Can't you stay for the baby?"
"You just contradicted yourself, Huffy," Salazar said.
"I know I did. Just… I couldn't bear to see you leave." Helga sat down beside him and took his hands. He opened his eyes and looked into her eyes.
He leaned down to kiss her. When they pulled away, Helga was gasping for air. "I'll stay. But let's take two years off from Hogwarts. If you're going to have a child, you can't be working. Godric and Row will be fine without us. Besides, don't you think it's time for us to finally have our honeymoon?"
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
"Mama!" the baby cried. "Mama mama mama!"
Sal jiggled the baby in his arms, trying to make him calm down. "It's okay, don't cry… Helga hurry up and come help me how do you control this thing?!"
"Mama! Where's mama?!" the baby wailed.
"Come on! Just take care of Sebastian for five minutes! Sing him a song or something!" Helga called. "I'm trying to cook here!"
"What do I sing?" Sal asked.
"Anything without swearing!" Helga replied.
"Um um happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sebby, happy birthday to you!" Sal sang.
"Is that the best you can come up with?" Helga asked, laughing.
"Speaking of, I really need to learn how to calm him down since you'll be going to Hogwarts, and I'll be at home taking care of him. You know, I'll come and visit you guys. Anyway, I love how this turned out. We're still together, yet I'm not uncomfortable with the pureblood thing since I'm not one of the headmasters anymore," Sal grinned.
"Waahh! Waah!" the baby bawled.
"Hush you baby, I don't want to listen to you terrible screams. Don't you cry baby, I want you to smile and laugh," Sal sang in a random tune.
"That one's much better than your last," Helga said, smirking to herself. "And I agree that things turned out well. Besides, this way, you and Sebby can become closer together. Just think about how much you guys can suffer together. Suffering together makes bonds. He'll be suffering since he misses me, and you'll be suffering because he's crying."
"Hey! That's not nice!" Sal exclaimed, but he was smiling.
"But it's true!" Helga sang. "Anyway, I really don't get the point of the Cup. I mean, I love cooking, so there's really no point for it. I think it's just to kill whoever owns it, which is why I really don't want Sebby to get it. But if I die with the Cup somewhere away from him, won't the curse not move on?"
"But wouldn't you rather die beside him than without him?" Sal asked quietly.
There was silence. Well, not silence, as the baby was still blubbering.
"Well yes, but I don't know how he'd live with the curse. I don't know if I could live with myself knowing that I gave the curse to him," Helga said.
"Well, technically, you'd be dead," Sal pointed out.
"Wow, thanks for mentioning that. I don't know… I guess that when the time comes, it'll come. Do you think I should tell him about it, or keep it a secret until he comes of age?" she asked.
"I think you should tell him about it. That way, he'll know, and what happened to your parents won't happen. I think your parent's death was partially their own fault. If they had told you about it, none of it would have happened," Sal said.
"But if I hadn't been so selfish, it would have never happened anyway. Besides, they just wanted me to be kind and caring, and then they'd give it to me," she said.
"What? You never told me about that!" Sal exclaimed.
"Well, I never thought that it was that important," she said softly.
"I guess it isn't that important. Anyway, don't carry the burden of the curse all by yourself. Sebby and I will be here to help you," Sal smiled at her.
"I know," Helga brought out the food and laid it out on the table with her wand.
She walked over to Sal and kissed him on the cheek, as she took Sebby away from him. "Now, now, don't cry little one," she murmured, and Sebby's sobs slowed down.
"Wow, you're really good with him…" Sal muttered.
"Well that's because I was with him while you were off sleeping and eating and doing who knows what," Helga said sharply, but she had a smile. "Don't worry, as time goes on, he'll learn to trust and love you too. Just be kind to him, but not too kind, or he'll become spoiled. Be stern when you need to, and don't give him so many sweets!"
"What's wrong with giving him sweets?" Sal pouted.
Helga laughed and pecked him on the lips. Sal blushed. They had been in a married relationship for five years now, but Sal still blushed whenever she kissed him.
"Mama!" Sebby exclaimed, and Helga turned to him.
"What, you want a kiss too?" Helga laughed and gave him a peck on the lips as well.
Sebby laughed in delight. "How about one from daddy too?"
She held out Sebby so that he was facing his father and Sal pecked him on the lips. "He's so cute!" he said.
She laughed. "You just realized?"
A/N: So how was it? Reviewing, faving, following, all very appreciated!