The Founders' Tale

Date

Rowena woke up to the sound of shouting and thumps coming from downstairs. She rolled out of bed and ran out of her bedroom to stand on the balcony to see what the comontion was.
In the hall, Rodolphus grabbed onto a red-haired boy and pushed him to the ground. The boy sprung back up and punched him in the face. Her mother had a tight hand on the railing and a distressed look on her face as she looked down on the disturbance, and the cook was holding a cloth up to her face in the corner.
"Godric!" Rowena shouted down at the pair. Rodolphus held Godric's head underneath his arm and they both looked up at her.
"Rowena!" Godric shouted back up but Rodolphus put his hand over Godric's mouth.
Rowena ran down the stairs with her white night dress skirts bunched up in her hands so she could join them in the hall.
"Rowena, do you know this boy?" Rodolphus looked square into her eyes, face deadly serious.
"Rodolphus, put him down!" She stormed over to her brother.
"Do. You. Know. Him." His voice was forced out between a clenched jaw.
"Yes! That's my boyfriend! Now, put him down!" Rowena looked up sternly at her brother, her mouth in a hard line.
Rodolphus dropped Godric on the floor and walked forward to whisper in her ear. "We need to talk later." He stormed off up the stairs to his mother.
Godric scrambled up off the floor and latched onto Rowena's body.
"Are you alright?" Rowena said, while awkwardly hugging his overly-draped body.
"Yes, I'm fine. Who was that? He is way too violent. I had to beat his arse." Godric tossed his head back and made his orange curls bounce.
"That was my brother. And I wish you wouldn't just walk in my house, it is very annoying." Rowena looked at him coolly, which he didn't notice.
"I wanted to check up on my girl." He gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek, to which she pulled her head slightly away and wiped the saliva off.
"Yes, but please don't."
"And I don't like your brother, he was very rude to me. He threw the first punch, but I soon sorted him out."
"Knowing you, Godric, you probably drove him there. You can be exceedingly obnoxious and annoying." Rowena withdrew from his grip and proceeded to the kitchen to see what was for breakfast. The cook told her that eggs and bacon would be through to the dining room in five minutes, and frowned at Godric when he took one of her special carrot cakes, baked specially for the dinner tonight for Rodolphus specially. They journeyed into the dining room, an oak-panelled room with several wide windows with dark brown curtains with golden embroidery. A mahogany table stood in the middle of the room, with beech chairs surrounding the oblong table. Rowena pulled one out and sat down, resting her head on the table to catch what little nap there was. Godric pulled his chair close to hers, continuing to babble about something while he gulped down the cake. The cook walked in two minutes afterwards with Rowena's breakfast on her hand, squeezing her shoulder before leaving. Rowena ate her breakfast silently, Godric stealing half of it and Rodolphus walking in half way through, sitting at the opposite end of the table with his slices of toast and jam. Godric continued to talk, Rodolphus' face growing darker by the second. Godric ate the last piece of bacon that he stole, pulled a bunch of daffodils out from behind his back and handed them to Rowena, kissed her head and waltzed out of the house of Ravenclaw.
"How can you stand him?" Rodolphus spoke with a lace of pure hatred in his voice.
"He can be annoying, but he's alright. He wouldn't let any harm come to anyone. Unless he hated them, of course." Rowena started sipping her apple juice, enjoying the feeling of her breakfast sinking.
"Alright? He tried to tackle me to the floor after annoying the cook, not to mention he stormed into this house like it was his own."
"Well, I've had a word with him out it. He knows he shouldn't."
"And when did you get a boyfriend and why didn't you tell me?"
"We've been going out for four months. He asked. And I accepted. I didn't tell you because you weren't here."
"Well, I don't like him, Rowena. I do not like him one bit." Rodolphus finished his breakfast and drank his own apple juice in one gulp. "Right, I'm off to go to check up on the business, should be about two minutes, then I'll be back to see what I can do here. What are you going to do with your day?"
"I'll take these flowers to Father's grave. They'll be most wanted there. I'll take little Helga with me and we'll probably go to the woods again. She likes it there."
"How is the beautiful Helga?"
"As lively as ever. You'll probably see her today." She drank the last of her juice and got up, shivering a little. "I'd better go and get changed." Rowena got up out of her seat and walked to the door.
"Yes, you look cold. And I'll join you. Visiting Dad. I haven't seen him in a while."
Rowena nodded walked up the stairs to get changed. Half an hour later, Rowena was on the way out of the door when her mother held her by the arm.
"Rowena. Are you okay?" Her mother was shaking a little and looked incredibly frail but her gaze did not falter.
"Yes mother. I'm fine." Rowena smiled and patted her other on the arm. "Absolutely fine. How are you now?"
"I'm fine. What about you and Godric? How's that going?"
"It's... not going as well as it was, to be honest. I don't know, he doesn't seem to be listening to me much lately, and he's just self-centred." She sighed.
Rowena's mother smiled. "Whatever happens, I'm here. Don't forget that."
"I won't." Rowena smiled, her eyes moist. "I'll tell you more tonight, okay? I have to go and collect Helga, her mother will be wanting the house for the stall soon." Rowena smiled and opened the front door.
"See you tonight, child."
They waved at each other then Rowena departed down the familiar road, the feel of the fabric of her sleeve underneath her hand a comfort in some ways. Arriving at the Hufflepuff house, she collected a happy Helga and they left to return to the Ravenclaw house. On the way, they met a puffskein, which Helga picked up and placed on her shoulder, naming it Henry, though Rowena suspected that it was a girl, judging by the colour of the fur. They walked back up to the house, where they ate jam sandwiches and Rodolphus arrived to sweep Helga off her feet. The child giggled his name many times and Rodolphus giggled too at the little antics she performed around the room. Rowena held a book in her hand, along with the flowers from Godric, and smiled at her brother. He picked up the child's hand and they began the journey along the hillside. They travelled west and crossed the river over a make-shift bridge and up the other side, the puffskein squeaking in delight as it caught a group of flies in its hair. It shook them out one by one and began to eat its snack, Helga skipping while holding it in her hands.
They journeyed slightly into the forest, and along a deer path. They came to a glade, in which twenty lumps of dirt sat with twenty round stones at the head of each one. Walking through the graves, they came to one that has a speckled stone and was slightly triangular. Inscribed was the words "Rowan Ravenclaw. May he be at peace, now he has come to rest." Rowena laid the flowers down next to the headstone and smiled down at it, before taking Helga's hand and wandered off to the edge of the glade to allow Rodolphus time to talk. They had spent 20 minutes playing with the grass and puffskein when Rodolphus finally stood up. There were tear tracks running down his face, but neither girl commented on it. As they wandered back along the river, they saw Godric striding along with a gift in his hands, whistling and ruffling his hair. Behind him, Rowena could see a gaggle of girls giggling in the delight of his tight shirt.
"Rowena!" He called out, ruffling his hair.
Rowena rolled her eyes and turned to Rodolphus. "I'll get rid of him..."
"No you go on. I'll take the lovely Helga out for a walk to see old Jimmy. You'd like that, wouldn't you Helgie?" Rodolphus looked down at the excitable child. She gazed up at him with the puffskein in her hands, her mouth open with wonder. Rodolphus smiled. "See? We'll be fine. He won't go away until you tell him to."
Rowena grimaced a little. "I know."
She stood there waiting for Godric to arrive while her brother took Helga across the stream and up the other hill.
Godric strolled up to Rowena and presented her with a gold-wrapped present and kissed her on the cheek, with somehow more saliva than the morning. She wiped her cheek again and picked up the present.
"I wrapped in gold because I know that is your favourite colour." He whispered huskily in her ear. She shied away from his face and unwrapped it. Inside, a small, thin bronze bracelet sat there, a sapphire partially hidden in the metal. Rowena slipped it over her wrist.
"Thank you Godric. It is pretty." She looked at it and put her hand down. Godric smiled over-sensually at her and wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. She felt like she couldn't escape.
"Hey, I've got to go back to work, I only got a 15 minute break. So, I just wanted to give you that and to tell you to get ready for tonight. I'll pick you up in about three hours, and I'll take you out. be ready for me. And wear something red, preferably with a low neckline, just how I like it." He smiled seductively again, but instead of being attracted, Rowena was repulsed. She backed out of his grip and stood a reasonable length away from him.
"Okay. I will be ready. Where are we going, and are you picking me up?" She asked firmly.
Godric sneaked closer to her. "I'll pick you up and take you out for a drink and dinner."
Rowena nodded and walked away after her brother. Catching up to them, she held Helga's hand and they walked up the hill to the Slytherin Mansion. The mansion was a huge stone building, with many floors and many rooms to behold. The mansion was surrounded by expansive lawns and gardens, some with flowers and some with food, all bustling with witches and wizards who tended to their plants. There were several paddocks with animals of both magical and muggle properties contained, though the trio walked specifically to the hippogriffs. At the edge of the field, a lonely wooden building stood and a man leant against it with a pipe in his hand, named Bob. They waved Bob and exchanged pleasantries, before walking over to an old, albino hippogriff that stood in the far end of the stable.
Jimmy was the very first hippogriff to be bought for the Slytherin household. He was 19 hands high and as old as the hills, though thoroughly docile and plod-worthy. After leading the old boy out of his stable and bowing respectfully, Rodolphus lifted Helga and Rowena on top of Jimmy, led Jimmy's daughter, Rosie, out into the sun, the three took a flight over the estate and across the woods.
Two hours later, when both hippogriffs had been returned to their stables and Helga was brought back to her humble home, Rowena journeyed to her room in search of an appropriate dress for the proposed date. Scanning through her wardrobe, she came to the conclusion that a sweeping, medium-necked scarlet dress would be the most suitable. Draping her necklace over the front and Godric's bracelet on her wrist, she sat in the window seat of the library and read, waiting for the sound of Godric's voice. When the hourglass had tipped itself twice in its oak frame, she got up out of her seat and told her mother where she was going and walked off down to the village. With a small stomp in her step, she walked through the extremely quiet village and into the only tavern. Searching the crowd that had somehow crammed itself into the dingy, smelly room, she spotted the familiar hair colour in the darkest corner. Creeping closer through the dense crowd, she saw Godric with his face smashed against a blonde woman's, which she vaguely recognised as one of her friends from her childhood upon reflection. On the bar beside them was some pieces of dirty clothing and several empty beer glasses, some of the liquid had spilled on the table top. Rowena didn't need to look any closer to see where Godric's hands were on the girl's body, not that she cared, she told herself. Staring at them for a second, she saw Godric look at her and break away from the girl's saliva (though there were plenty of substance connecting their faces together) and mouth her name, but it didn't matter. Rowena turned on her heel and marched out of the tavern.
She thought she heard her name being called several times, but she didn't check. She didn't want to see the saliva stains. She walked with a straight back and a determined step, though she felt a prickle in her eyes as she turned what had just occurred in her mind. Shaking her head, she decided she would not cry, no matter how worthless he made her feel, she would not cry. Not in public.
When she arrived home, she slammed the door and rushed upstairs, wanting to feel the comfort of her sheets and the softness of her bed to cool her emotions. Her mother came out of her bedroom to see what was going on and Rowena ran straight into her. She tried running around her mother, but she was caught hold of and held onto in a warm and comforting hug.
Only then did the tears fall.