Ravenclaw

Chapter 72- Could Have Been

Song for the chapter: Words I Didn't Say by Why Don't We

~

Salazar slid down the pipe with ease, Helga shrieking as she went down after him. Her yells echoed all around the tunnel, all the way down. As it slowly began to slope down gently, her screams died down, and Salazar stepped out of the pipe immediately with ease. Helga, however, had to catch her breath, and Salazar offered her his hand. Glaring, she smacked it away and hopped off, walking past him into what appeared to be a large cylinder, with pipes identical to the one they came from leading off into Merlin knows where. The walls had a few openings that seemed to lead to a long, dark corridor they were all connected to, and because of how cold it was, Helga assumed that they were near the dungeons, or possibly even lower. It was empty, the hollow space they stood in, it was just them and a large shedding of what appeared to be—
"Snake skin?!" Helga gasped, examining the feather-light material. It was very old— parts of the old skin had cracked off, and the colour from a vibrant green had become a sickly, pale yellow. The scaly pattern no longer remained, but only a shadow of it, as it had eroded over time. Helga's light, pale fingers ever so slightly came into contact with it, and a large chunk fell off, hitting the floor with a small crack and breaking off into smaller, fragile pieces. She remained quiet, and chose not to question why the skin of a large snake was at the bottom of the pipes.
Salazar walked over and took quick, small steps into where the largest of the openings stood, and Helga hurried after him, their footsteps echoing throughout the place. The place was made of what seemed to be smooth stone, and the corridors of which they walked down were considerably dark, only lit up by very few torches in their black, wrought-iron brackets. Where the light of a torch ended, the light of another started, so that they would be plunged in as much as darkness as possible while still being able to see where they were going.
It seemed as if they were going in circles in the circular corridor, but then yet another opening led them down an even darker— how is this possible?— passageway. Helga tripped on the step, and Salazar held out his wand. "Lumos!" His deep voice thundered, and he helped Helga to her feet. From the weak light of the wand, she could see that this passageway was different— the statues that lined the walls were purely of snakes, which seemed to be made up of emerald, for the closest statues near them had shimmered green from the wandlight.
Salazar continued to hold Helga's hand as he led her through, and Helga's heart started to quicken its pace. At last, they came to a stop in front of a circular door that resembled a porthole, except it was made of bronze and had eight snakes made of a silver metal on it, their heads meeting in the middle, their forked tongues giving off a nasty glimmer. Upon closer look, Helga realised that the surface of the door was slightly wet, and it shimmered not just because of the metal, but the water droplets that lined it. Of course, this was Salazar, so Helga expected some kind of lock to the door.
She wasn't disappointed. Salazar passed her his wand and immediately, the familiar, hissing language of the snakes fell from his tongue, and he spoke to the door. "Open," Helga understood him say, and as he took his wand back from her, the snakes, one by one, slid back ever so slightly from the middle in a clockwise motion. Once all snakes had moved back from their original position, the door swung backwards open to let them through.
Salazar took a step forward, and when he realised Helga wasn't following, he turned around. Helga had a hand raised to her mouth in shock, and she seemed hesitant. Salazar features softened, and he took a step towards Helga.
"Are you alright?"
This was one of the times Helga really loved Salazar; when his harsh, cold exterior broke and gave way for his soft side, the side Helga always knew existed, even if it seemed impossible for him to have any sort of emotion other than hatred.
"Y-yes, I'm fine," she stammered. She looked down, avoiding eye contact with him, but Salazar easily lifted her chin and made her look up at him; the minute her amber eyes met his dark, emerald ones, she felt her heart skip a beat.
He stayed silent for a second, then he grasped Helga's hand once again and led her through the circular door.
Helga couldn't help but gasp yet again— they were in some sort of underground chamber, and they had emerged onto a long, large walkway made of the same smooth stone, only this time it was wet, like the door they came through. On either side of the walkway, enormous statues of snakes made of the same silver metal lined it all the way, and their bases, which were a step lower than the pathway, were immersed in a small layer of water, that was level in height with the walkway. At the end of the long stretch of stone, a large sculpture of Salazar's head popped out of the wall, and it was a sculpture of him when he had long locks— ones that Helga secretly adored. His chin was submerged in water, just like the snake bases, and the sculpture seemed to be inside a semicircle of water. The minute they entered, dim lights flooded the place, causing the water to shine a dark green.
Helga walked forward a few paces, utterly shocked at what was before her. This was what Salazar was working on this whole time? The grandeur of the place was absolutely amazing— all this time, she, Godric and Rowena thought it peculiar for him to be the one to ensure that specifically the girl's bathroom on the first floor was completed, when really, he was constructing this.
     "All that time... you were working on this?" She said, her words echoing all around them throughout the cavernous chamber. "Why? Why did you construct this, and more importantly, why are you telling me now?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly clamped it shut when Helga narrowed her eyes. He could almost see the anger bubbling inside of her, waiting to lash out at him, but he knew that Helga's kind nature always won over the temperamental beast within. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath; when she opened them, she spoke once more.
"I wouldn't ask you if I thought it pointless to know. But because I need my answers and you are literally the only person who can provide me with the answers I seek. I can see there's some sort of... of reason behind all of this, no matter how absurd, so I'm going to ask you again— why Sala— oh my word!"
The castle shook again, and even though they were very deep underground, they could hear the numerous screams resounding around the castle, people who did not expect yet another tremor to shake the building. But what they didn't expect was not comparable to what Helga didn't expect.
It was as if her voice had been taken from her— she needed to do many things with it. First, she wanted to curse for being stupid and saying the man's name; second, she wanted to scream as she nearly fell over— luckily Salazar had caught her and held her to prevent her from falling again; thirdly, the sculpture of Salazar now had it's mouth open, and the creature whose skin was seen in the entryway was now slithering into the chamber.
It looked peculiar; the gigantic snake took its time to slither towards them, going towards the reptilian statues and pausing, as if like a dog, trying to 'sniff' or at the very least, sense any human presence. Salazar dropped his hand from Helga's and immediately began directing the snake in Parseltongue, the commands so complicated that Helga did not understand a word he was saying. All that came out from his mouth was violent, commanding hissing and spitting.
The beast stopped, inches apart from them, its head hovering in mid-air, under Salazar's complete command, as if held up by invisible strings controlled by its puppeteer. It continued to spit and hiss— Helga gazed at it, wide-eyed, and then it hit her.
"Salazar!" She cried, and the beast twitched at the sound of its master's name. "You... you've kept a-a basilisk!" Salazar grinned with pride at Helga's realisation— the basilisk was something only the first-born men of the Slytherin family had known of and inherited from their ancestors; the basilisk had immediately responded to Salazar's command ever since his father died, and he had found deep within the cellars of his father's mansion back in Portugal, the locked room of which he always questioned as a child.
     "Doesn't it— you know— kill, you, when you look into its... eyes?" Helga stammered, bowing her head to avoid any eye contact with the beast at all costs. Salazar didn't even flinch— of course he didn't, he was the master of the snake! Any beast that spoke in hisses and slithered along the floor was under his command, no matter how great and terrifying.
     "You are forgetting who you are talking to, my dear," he said, smirking slightly. "Of course, I have found the solution to the problem— see the its eyes? I enchanted the beast to ensure that it does not kill those who are descendent of me or in this case—" he cast a glance at Helga, "those whom I... care for."
     Helga sucked in a breath— she knew he was talking about her. She knew he would never tell that cow Maria about this place, and if anything, he despised her as much as he despised his mother. But the truth still remains— first-born males. Not females. Helga had only birthed two twin girls, not one of them an heir to inherit the basilisk, the chamber.
     "But of course, it wouldn't really matter to Georgia and Freidda, will it? Seeing as they will never know such a creature exists?" She turned to Salazar, trying to resist frowning. Salazar raised his brow cheekily.
     "Won't matter? Pray tell, Helga, have I ever strictly followed every single rule and tradition my family has imposed upon me?" Helga opened her mouth to speak, but Salazar silenced her with his hand. "I have broken, though only mildly, at least two significant restrictions my family has. For one," he looked at Helga pointedly, "I have let my first-borns be birthed by a woman of impure blood, but nonetheless, a woman I love."
     "Secondly, I have countlessly disobeyed my mother, and I still do, though I do it in secret. After all, what man would parade around bellowing his mistakes and irresponsibilities to the world?" Helga was at a loss for words— surely he wasn't going to say what she thought?
     "So, Helga my dear, I believe that you, by now, would get the point I am trying to make. I have no problem in breaking— or in this case, mildly bending— the rules of my heritage. Which is why, I hope that when Freidda and Georgia reach their third year in education here, tell them that their Uncle Salazar has bequeathed to them a little present in his absence ."
     Helga immediately began to tear up. The gesture was grand, and sweet, but the fact remains that Salazar would play no part in raising his children, and thus it would be her to tell their girls what they inherited from their truly, loving father. She'd have to be the one to explain to them that it would be something that they'd pass on to their children, then their grandchildren...
     Helga wrapped her hands round Salazar's. "I promise, Zar, I promise I won't let you down."
     To think, that they could've avoid this secrecy, this confiding of secrets, by just eloping and having their family whole. To think, that Salazar could've broken the news to his children directly, to be able to call them his children and for them to call him their father. Everything came down to the fact that the universe seemed to rip them apart, or maybe the fact that the choices they made were completely, utterly wrong. Maybe things could be amended— was it really too late? They could, evidently, elope, run away with the girls, live a life in hiding just as Rowena's sister had done, but then, was it really having the freedom to love each other?
     Salazar bent down and kissed her hands tenderly. He whispered something in Parseltongue, and the basilisk slid back into its place of hiding. "You never did, Helga, and you never will."
     She smiled at him, and he grinned. "Now, let's make sure the great beast doesn't disturb the castle anymore, shall we?"

~