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

Sixteen

The wind played with the curls in my hair ever so gently, tickling my face that was flushed in a soft pink. My face seemed t0 match the red and pink sky that was painting the sunset that night. I heard him stepping toward me, his footsteps familiar to me.

He took my hand intertwining his fingers with mine. His other hand brushed my opposite arm and traveled up to my shoulder, then my neck. I breathed in sharply as a surge of lightning traveled down my spine.

I could hear him breathing as he drew nearer behind me. He was so close that I could almost feel his breath on the back of my neck. I could almost feel his lips touch my ear. I could almost-

"Lyra, we have much to do today." Helga woke me from my dream, one that I felt quite embarrassed about.

I sat up abruptly, feeling the remnant of sweat peeling off of me. I adjusted Salazar's locket around my neck. I was in the habit of never taking it off, and I concluded that was why I could not stop thinking about him.

I walked to the Great Hall with Helga, where Godric and Salazar were already conversing over breakfast.

All of my blood must have rushed to my face and I just knew I was glowing an awful shade of pink. Only this time I wasn't dreaming.

"Good morning." Helga greeted cheerfully. I smiled, sitting down next to her and across from Salazar.

"Morning." Godric responded from behind his cup he had raised to his mouth.

Salazar met my gaze, giving me a slight nod before he diverted his eyes to the locket and then quickly looked back up at me again.

Our exchange was short lived as Rowena strode into the room with a baby in one arm and a stack of parchment levitating behind her. As she neared us, the parchment followed her until she finally lowered it onto the table with a thud.

"What are these?" I asked curiously, barely able to see Salazar anymore from the stack.

"Letters." Godric answered before Rowena could. "To students."

"They will be, after we write them." Rowena said matter-of-factly as she passed each of us a stack of parchment.

I looked down at the blank parchment in front of me, slightly overwhelmed. This was all happening so quickly.

"How do we know who to send them to?" I thought out loud, and Helga nodded as if she was wondering the same.

Godric looked between the five of us and ran his hand over his beard as he calculated his next words. "My sister gave me a list of children that have displayed magical properties. We will invite all of those that are old enough to study here, but we cannot expect them to say yes. And then, of course, there are a few we may need to visit ourselves."

I tensed up at the assumption of why we would need to go. My unease did not go unnoticed.

"Why exactly would we need to visit certain students, Godric?" Salazar asked slowly and calmly, glancing back at me cautiously. Though we all knew the answer.

Godric swallowed and sat up straighter. It was as if he thought he could get away with that if he didn't mention it directly, but he was terribly wrong. "Because they're muggles."

I knew that was what he was going to say. I knew his beliefs about them, and I knew I was outnumbered. But that still did not soften the blow of him admitting it out loud.

I felt like I had the wind knocked out of my lungs.

Before I could stop myself, I was on my feet and ready to run. "I-I just need a moment." I stammered out as I went stumbling out of the room.

I had no idea where I was going, but all I could focus on were muggles forcing my daughter into flames, hearing her scream, and hearing the deafening silence that followed.

Soon enough, I found myself outside, gasping for air like I did when muggles burned down our last school.

I leaned up against the wall and pulled at my hair to try to bring my mind back to the present. My eyes burned from my refusal to cry, but the sobs still found a way to escape from my mouth.

"Lyra?" His voice was the one I wanted to hear second to last in the world right now.

I pushed my hair back and stood up straight in attempt to compose myself. "I wasn't feeling well. But I'm much better now, so I think we can go back inside."

Godric Gryffindor crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at me, and I decided to stay right where I was. "It's hard for me too."

I looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "I'm not following."

Godric breathed out a laugh and moved to stand next to me, leaning his back against the wall. He stared forward, suddenly in deep thought or reminiscing.

"We've all lost people we love to them. I lost my nephew, Rowena her husband, Helga lost her parents, her fiancé, and Salazar his brother." He explained, his eyes glistening at the edges. "But each of them had the chance to learn how to defend themselves, and they had others who could hide them, help them. Muggleborn children do not have that. They rarely even know how to disguise their ability, and their parents are terrified of them. So, yes, allowing muggle borns to the castle is a risk, but I would rather risk saving their lives than losing them."