"Helga!" The voice of which called her name, she had come to know well, as the person had created many chaotic times within the small pub of which Helga Hufflepuff worked in.
She did not lift her head from her preparation of a daisy root pie, though she smiled politely as she greeted the mischievous traveler.
"Godric!" She said enthusiastically, serving the daisy root pie to a wizard reading the muggle newspaper, "What brings you here yet again?" Only then did she lift her head, to see Godric Gryffindor in a crimson cloak, smiling warmly, arms open for a hug. She smiled at the gesture, hanging up her apron before accepting it.
"I'd like to introduce you to two of my friends I had made in my travels." Godric's smile was, as usual, plastered across his face as he said so. Helga summoned an old rag to clean the table, all the while generally impressed by Godric's overall optimism on the day.
"Why would you name this pub 'Hufflepuff's sweets and delights'?" A woman walked to Godric's side, pulling down her navy hood to reveal a sparkling crown of silver upon her dark hair, "I had took a look at your menu, though I am intrigued by many of your delights, I cannot admit that there was anything there that could properly be classified as sweets." The woman's expression seemed slightly puzzled, yet strict. However, she continued her speech, "Do you not think it unwise to lie to your customers?"
"Rowena please, do try to drop the words of wisdom for a while and at least greet Helga." Godric childishly whined.
"You are Helga Hufflepuff, I presume?" The woman raised her head proudly in the air as she held out a hand for named witch to shake, "Rowena Ravenclaw."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Ravenclaw." Helga shook Rowena's smooth hand with her calloused, floured one, not to Lady Ravenclaw's delight, who hesitantly replied,
"The pleasure is all mine."
Godric looked at the menu behind the counter, scanning it greedily. "Helga, do you, by any chance, still make those delicious tarts? What were they again? Cranberry?"
Helga smiled at his childishness, and replied humbly. "Why of course! I shall go grab one for you."
As she disappeared into the kitchen, Rowena gracefully sat down on a chair, tucking her robes gently underneath her before asking, "Godric, about that Salazar fellow..."
"Rowena," Godric sighed in slight annoyance, "we have talked about this before. I trust Salazar, though his cold demeanor may be intimidating, I believe he is still a vital influence to our plans."
"Godric..."
"Besides," the wizard interjected, "Helga will be able to neutralize him. She is one of the most patient, humble people I know. It would be good treatment for Salazar after all."
Rowena sighed, "I suppose you are right."
Godric smiled, grateful for the prideful witch's understanding. "Speaking of which," he continued, "where is Salazar?"
"Godric, you are forgetful." An green cloaked man had apparated into the room with a slight snap, "I was tending to the horses, as you had instructed me to."
"Ah, of course! Many apologies, dear Salazar." Godric apologized quickly, beckoning the man to join the small group.
The man, Salazar, adjusting his dragon-hide gloves, took a couple, strict, proud steps to stand at Godric's shoulder, at which point, Helga returned, bearing a plate of 2 cranberry tarts.
"I thought maybe Lady Ravenclaw would like to try one." She explained, setting the plate in front of Godric, who was, at this point, entranced by both the smell and look of Helga's magnificent baking.
Said baker then continued to notice the strict looking wizard, standing at Godric's side.
"Hello!" She said cheerfully, "can I get you anything?"
Seeing that Godric was quite rudely snarfing down his tart, Rowena took it as her duty to introduce the two strangers.
"Helga, this is Salazar." Rowena said pointedly, gesturing at said names with a graceful hand, "Do introduce yourself, Salazar."
"Salazar Slytherin." He said quietly, scanning Helga in distaste.
Lady Hufflepuff did not seem to mind as she introduced herself, "Helga Hufflepuff." She replied with the same cheer as when she had greeted the man. She held her hand out, expecting a handshake, only to be returned by a curt nod before Salazar looked away.
Helga, disappointed, retracted her hand rather awkwardly, before asking if the strict wizard would like a tart as well. Of which he accepted politely. So Helga, head down, disappeared back into the kitchen, Salazar turned to the red-cloaked wizard, who was still sucking his fingers in hope that he could get more tart from them.
"This is just like you, Gryffindor." He drawled slightly, obviously unimpressed, "Finding a commoner to help us build the school."
"Oh come on Salazar!" Godric finally abandoned all attempts on licking his fingers to address the wizard that was looking down at him, "Helga is an incredibly talented witch, although she may be quite quiet about her talents, many people know of her, and respect her very much."
"But she is a commoner!" Salazar argued.
"At least she is a pureblood as you requested!" Godric replied, "And her bright attitude would be a great influence to the school."
"Why do you insist for her to join us?"
"She is a great witch, Salazar!"
At this precise moment, Helga walked out, holding a plate with another tart upon it. Godric, now deciding to close the conversation he had with Salazar, turned to Ravenclaw, asking briefly whether or not she wanted her tart. When she declined the offer, Godric grabbed it quickly, biting into it with a look similar to a child's on Christmas Day.
Helga, on the other hand, approached Salazar, who had now sat down. She placed the plate in front of him. Deciding to create some small conversation, she said, "It's cranberry. It's one of Godric's favorite treats in the place. He asks for it every time. Though he also likes to drink a dangerous amount of firewhisky. Which usually causes him to create a lot of havoc."
Salazar, although quite annoyed with the witch's blabbering, decided to pay false attention. The girl's red hair seemed decently tamed after all, though quite messy at the ends. And she must be quite determined in order to run such a decent pub by herself. And he always respected someone who put work into something they love. For he himself was quite ambitious.
"Over there, on that table, he started telling beedle the bard stories." Helga was saying, smiling wider at the memory, "He made them so overly dramatic, it was quite hilarious."
Salazar's face showed a small shadow of a smile, before reverting to his strict semblance at this comment. He had removed a glove, in order to pick up the tart, as Helga continued to tell amusing stories of his friend. He took his first bite of the tart, surprised at how good it was. His eyes widened in surprise slightly, although he quickly recovered. Soon, he had finished the tart, and Helga ran out of stories to tell. So, in return, Salazar decided to take part in Helga's attempt at small conversation.
"Godric had gathered Rowena and I for a project. And he had also wanted to ask you to join." He began, which surprised Helga to a slight degree, who had nearly started to think, due to his silence, that Salazar did not comprehend most of what she was saying, "As he tried to convince us, he has complimented you in many ways. Constantly emphasizing you as kind and humble."
Helga let out a soft chuckle, "He does have a sweet mouth, does he not?"
"Yes, but when it came to you, at a more severe degree." He had a sly smirk upon his face as he continued, "If I cared more about emotions, I would say he is quite interested in you."
Helga furrowed her brow in puzzlement, "Pardon my bluntness, sir, did you say you do not care for emotions?"
It was Salazar's turn to be puzzled, "Why of course not, they interfere with many things, and are quite painful at times."
"Pardon me again for disagreeing, Sir Slytherin, but I believe that emotions are what make life quite interesting," she debated, "furthermore, you can also tell a lot of one's history, from their emotions, or from what degree they react to things."
Salazar seemed quite annoyed, "Ms. Hufflepuff, I pardon you, however what you say is completely invalid. Emotions make life much harder. They complicate things, steer you off the road of logic."
"But that's just the fun of it, is it not?" Helga saw Salazar look at her strangely, and smiled, "without emotions, I would never had shared those stories of Godric to you, for amusement is an emotion. And if I did not find the stories amusing, why would I think to share them?"
Salazar simply looked at her, not ever having anyone disagree with him before. The way this girl was able to show such a simple valid point and stump him seemed to him like a miracle.
"As well as the fact that, if I denied emotion, I would never had talked to Godric, never would've opened a pub, or decided to keep baking after my first snufflehorn cake." Helga continued when Salazar was silent, "For being outgoing is caused by lack of the emotion of shyness, and the availability of the emotion of cheerfulness. For why would I ever had said hello, if I was not cheerful?" Salazar stayed silent, so Helga continued, "I wouldn't have opened a pub, since passion is an emotion. And why would I start a business, if I had no passion for it? Same goes for the fact that if did not show emotion, I would never have decided to keep baking, because love is an emotion. And why would I bake if I did not love it?"
Salazar seemed quite dumbfounded that this witch who he had, moments before, called a 'commoner', now left him stumped and speechless. He looked at Helga's dark eyes, desperately thinking of something to say. Before she smiled again and said to him, "Something to think about." Then, picking up the empty plates, she returned to the kitchen.
When Salazar turned to look at Rowena and Godric, he saw the two simply gawking at him. Rowena's face simply transferred into a look of disapproval, while Godric's turned into a smile.
"Now do you think she could join?" He asked, smirking at Salazar's still slightly shocked expression.
Salazar blinked, clearing his head quickly and returning to his neutral expression before giving a curt nod, and disapparating out of sight with another slight snap.
"Although I too do not see much use in emotions," Rowena stated after a moment of silence, "I am pleased to see you chose someone quite acceptable to join our cause."
Godric scoffed at the words. Then he tapped the counter loudly with his knuckles, causing Helga to step out of the kitchen.
"A firewhisky please, Helga."
"Of course," Helga answered brightly, "how many?"
"Just one," Godric answered, "I have something to ask of you."