THE FIFTH FOUNDER ⚡️ [h.p./founders era]

Fifteen

I lifted the hilt of the sword as I stood up from the floor. I had never seen anything quite like it, with its shiny, red jewel catching my eye immediately.

"You found it." Salazar stepped eagerly toward me, relief hinting in his voice.

I nodded slowly as I handed the sword to him, not able to take my eyes off of it. Salazar carefully unsheathed the sword, which had "Godric Gryffindor" engraved in the long, silver blade. I expected nothing less from him.

"This isn't the first time we've had to find this sword." Salazar reminisced, laughing lightly to himself. "He should charm it to follow him around so he doesn't lose it again."

I smiled as Salazar sheathed the sword, pulling me out of the strange trance it had put me under.

"Oh, I just remembered." I thought aloud, pulling out the locket from my cloak pocket. "Do you know who this belongs to?"

I held it out for him to look at. For a moment he just glanced at it, but he did a double take and stepped closer to my hand.

"Where did you find it?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the locket but not touching it.

"At the stables earlier." I answered. "Does it look familiar?"

"It's mine." He breathed out a laugh.

It was my turn to step toward him, keeping my arm outstretched for him to take the locket from me. It was his, after all.

"You can keep it." He lifted his hand and closed it around mine, wrapping my fingers around the necklace. Then, he turned to walk out of the room.

"Are you sure?" I asked as I followed him, a little confused.

"It would look much prettier on you, trust me." He said, almost too quiet for me to hear. But I did.

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and I was almost certain they were flushing pink. "What did you just say?"

With a turn of his heel, he was back to facing me. Before I knew what was happening, he took the necklace from my hands and motioned for me to turn around with a twirl of his finger. I listened.

He moved my hair to the side, letting his fingers graze my skin. He brought the necklace in front of me and clasped the chain around my neck.

Placing his hand on my shoulder, he turned me back around.

"I was right." He calculated, his voice barely above a whisper. "Much prettier on you."

~

Our trip back to the school was short. Much too short in my opinion.

But as we walked up to the castle, I felt a small sense of pride at the place being built. It truly was becoming a magnificent place.

When we walked in the door, Godric was there waiting for us. Before he could say anything, I handed the sword to him. He took it from me without a second of hesitance.

After carefully examining it for damage, he looked as if he might kiss me. I ran away before he had the chance.

I went on a search for Helga, but it didn't take me long to find her. Her favorite room in the entire castle was the kitchen, and I was lucky enough to find her in there.

"Lyra!" She greeted me excitedly.

"What are you making?" I asked, pulling up a stool.

"Oh, just a little dessert. I needed something to do." She said as she waved her wand over her set out ingredients.

With great concentration, the ingredients mixed in with each other and became something entirely different. Watching her do this amazed me every time.

"That's an interesting locket." Helga said, nodding her head toward the necklace I was wearing. "He gave it to you."

I brought my hand up to the locket and held onto it, my stomach doing a small backflip at her incredible eye for detail. I couldn't help but blush, remembering how close he was to me when he put it on.

"Yeah. Yeah he did." I looked down for moment.

When I brought my gaze back up, her eyes met mine, an innocent smile on her face.

"He likes you. And you like him." She put together like a puzzle.

I didn't even try to deny it, even though I really wanted to.

~

Our new library made the old one seem so minuscule. The room was large enough to hold ten times the amount of books we had, which would probably be good for the amount of journals we already had.

But for now, only one row of shelves was filled, making the room feel empty.

"I think Rowena could fill this room in one week, if she really tried." Salazar joked as he placed the last of our journals on the shelf.

"You'd be absolutely correct." Rowena said as she entered the room, admiring it with us for the first time. "Unfortunately my hand gets tired quickly."

Even though it was practically empty, I thought Rowena could have spent eternity in that room. Salazar must have thought the same thing, as he turned to leave, but waited for me at the door before he did.

We walked into the Great Hall, where Godric was pacing back and forth, with a letter in his hands. He kept flipping between the pages, as if he was struggling to understand the message.

"What is it?" Salazar called out to him.

"My sister." Godric breathed out, just loud enough for us to hear. "She wants the school opened in time for the fall term."

"That's only five months away." Salazar forced out a laugh at the ridiculous quest. Didn't she know how much more needed to be planned?

"She said to start sending letters." Godric sounded as if he could cry as he dropped down into a chair.

"She even gave us a list." He laughed sarcastically at his sister's "thoughtfulness."

"What if we tell her no?" Salazar asked, but we all already knew the answer.

"She'll pull her funding."