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mrs-sharp · 6 days

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The eyes of Graphorns

I've finished a new part of my fanfic, and we finally reach the part where the title is explained. Hope you enjoy it!

Pairing: Aesop Sharp x mc

Summary: After their confrontation, Elaine and Sharp avoid each other. But after a short while, they both realize that they have difficulties being apart. Elaine takes the first step and invites Sharp to meet her in the corridor of the seventh floor.

Read part 1-4 here

Chapter 5 - Elaine's Laughter

Aesop Sharp sat in his classroom, turning a piece of parchment in his hands. In recent days, he had often sat here, lost in thought, although he really hadn't had the time for it. Every day, he would review the events in Elaine's office, and her words would echo in his mind. She had tried to find a cure for him. She had been injured in the attempt to confront his attacker. She had become a damn Auror and went to that cursed place named Scarborough. It wasn't that he hadn't believed she was capable, but the fact that she now had to endure the same pain that had haunted him for years because of him — he should have warned her before it was too late. But what troubled him most was what she had said to him: "You mean too much to me."

In the past week, he hadn't seen her often. They mostly met in the Great Hall, but she hadn't given him a chance to speak with her. Usually, she was already there before him, leaving the teachers' table before he had even started eating. Now he sat there, the empty parchment in hand, unable to find the right words. He had thought about sending her an owl. He wanted to apologize to her. For his behaviour and for not having control of the situation. But most of all, for accusing her of not wanting to help him. He wanted to say so much, and...

"Professor, we've finished brewing our Focus Potions," a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up, and there stood a student holding a vial.

"Yes, yes, write your names on a piece of parchment and then place the potions on my desk. We'll discuss the results in the next class. Class dismissed..."

The students looked at each other questioningly and then began to leave the room one by one.

"What's wrong with Professor Sharp?" he heard a student whisper, and another replied, "I don't know, he's behaving strangely, maybe..."

The rest of the sentence left the room with the students. Aesop Sharp leaned back in his chair and sighed as an owl entered the room through an open window, dropping a piece of parchment onto his desk and disappearing without landing. He recognized the handwriting immediately:

"Please meet me after lunch on the seventh floor of the Astronomy Wing."

There was nothing more on the piece of parchment, but he knew who it was from. The whole week, he had caught himself waiting for a message that he had believed would never arrive. He had thought about a possible meeting with Elaine Hopkins much more often than he wanted to admit, and it unsettled him. Until now, he had never found it difficult to stay focused on his work, but since the confrontation with Elaine, he had noticed behaviors in himself that he didn't recognize.

Lost in thought, he imagined seeing her again outside the Great Hall while simultaneously trying to push the thought away. He knew he was behaving highly unprofessionally, even though she was now his colleague.

The morning dragged on like an eternity. When Sharp arrived in the corridor of the seventh floor, Elaine was already waiting for him. She didn't look at him as he approached and stood beside her. She sensed his presence, though, as he stopped next to her. He too looked at the wall she was staring at, perhaps hoping to discover something there, but all he saw was sand-colored stone.

"How was your first week at Hogwarts, Professor?"

He said her title as if it brought him joy to treat her as an equal. He glanced at her from the side and caught himself admiring her. He noticed again and again that he compared her to the student she had been when she left Hogwarts. Even then, he had appreciated her talent and courage, but he felt how much she had grown. She radiated sincerity and sharpness. She tempered her confidence with restraint and humility. He noticed that he had been staring at her for a bit too long, quickly looked away, and condemned himself for his inappropriate behaviour.

"I'm still getting used to standing on the other side of the classroom," she replied, "but it's going well."

Elaine was glad that Sharp was actually there. She hadn't been sure if he would come. He hadn't responded to her owl, but she hadn't expected him to. Even during her school days, he hadn't revealed more than necessary about himself. For the first time since she returned to Hogwarts, she felt something familiar. So much had happened in the last few years, and everything had changed, but now, with the professor standing next to her, who had fought side by side with her long ago, she felt that the shadows of the past were at least loosening a bit. She valued the Potions Master greatly — his knowledge and experience, but also his honesty.

"I want to show you something."

Elaine looked around to see if they were alone, closed her eyes, and after a few seconds of silence, a door formed on the bare wall.

"Is that..." Sharp began, and Elaine couldn't help but notice the wonder in his voice.

"The Room of Requirement," she nodded, finishing his sentence.

Elaine opened the door and invited him in. Sharp walked through slowly and felt like he had entered another world. The walls were filled with books, plants, and potion ingredients up to the high ceilings. Here and there were alcoves with seating, plant tables and potion stations. He spotted cauldrons and shelves full of vials filled with various potions. Diptam, river grass, shrivelfigs, and knotgrass grew in the room, along with mandrakes, Chinese chomping cabbage, and even a venomous tentacula. Sharp looked around with his mouth slightly agape.

"Professor Weasley led me here. This way, I was able to catch up on all the material I had missed in my first year," Elaine explained.

"Matilda, huh? I always thought of the room as a legend until now. She never told me about it," Sharp said, still marvelling at the sight. Elaine walked through the room.

"Oh, the shrivelfigs could use some fertilizer, and the venomous tentacula needs pruning."

"Miss Hopkins, is that you?" a voice suddenly squeaked from the other end of the room, and a house-elf appeared from behind one of the huge planters. "Oh, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Deek, nice to see you. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. Did you take care of everything with Professor Weasley while I was away?" Elaine asked, and Deek's face lit up.

"Yes, Deek did everything he could to take care of everything. You're accompanied today, I see?"

Elaine turned around. "This is Professor Sharp, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts."

"Pleased to meet you," he replied curtly, nodding to the house-elf.

"Deek, would you excuse us for a moment? I want to show Professor Sharp something," Elaine said.

"Of course," Deek replied and disapparated.

Elaine turned to her colleague, suddenly looking serious.

"I know it may sound inappropriate, but when we enter the next room, it's very important that you do what I tell you. Do you understand?"

Sharp's face became pensive, puzzled by the authoritative tone in her voice.

"I mean it. Please, you have to trust me."

It was hard for him to relinquish control, but he was also curious about what else this room held.

"All right," he answered and nodded.

"Follow me," Elaine replied, sounding suddenly very mysterious.

Aesop Sharp followed closely behind her, and they entered another room, although the word "room" hardly did it justice. Suddenly, he found himself in a vast hilly landscape. In the distance, he could see ruins. It felt as if they had landed in the farthest corner of the Scottish Highlands, although they were still inside the castle. Hogwarts never ceased to surprise him.

Elaine's whistle cut through the cool air. Sharp had been so busy marveling at the landscape that he hadn't noticed the magical creatures. Suddenly, Nifflers popped out of the tall grass bushes, starting to squeak excitedly when they saw Elaine, then bustling around her feet. Mooncalves danced around her, and from afar, Thestrals came flying. They galloped around Elaine, sniffing her. One lay on its back, rolling excitedly in the grass and making joyful noises. The smallest of them was snow-white and nudged Elaine's hand, urging her to scratch its head. Sharp had never seen anything like it.

The way the creatures approached Elaine so trustingly fascinated him. He had previously thought it was dangerous to get so close to magical creatures, but Elaine's interaction with them exuded a calmness that soothed him.

Sharp looked around. Diricawls darted through tall grass on one of the hills, next to them Kneazles dozed in the sunlight, and in the sky, he spotted a flock of Fwoopers in all the colors of the rainbow. In the distance, he even thought he saw unicorns.

"This is... wonderful," he remarked reverently. Elaine smiled. She couldn't remember ever hearing the former Auror speechless.

"I started this because I wanted to provide them with a safe environment. Almost all the magical creatures here fell victim to poachers. At first, I had no idea how much I would learn from them."

Sharp remembered hearing stories during Elaine's school days that she had taken down entire poacher camps with Poppy Sweeting, but he had dismissed it as gossip, embellishing the story of the dragon attack on Elaine's first day.

"So, the rumours about you and Miss Sweeting are true?"

"I don't know what rumours you've heard, but when I think about what Poppy and I experienced together in my first year, it's likely that they are true."

"You don't have dragons here, do you?" Sharp asked with a touch of irony, but also visibly concerned.

"Not in this room," Elaine replied. Sharp recognized from her expression that her response wasn't serious and smiled then. For a moment, Elaine paused. Her former teacher's smile flowed through her body, leaving behind a warm feeling of security. Over the years, she had realized how much she had missed him, but only now did she realize how much.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. At first, it was just a faint vibration under their feet, but Sharp noticed it immediately. He looked around hastily, trying to locate the source of the tremors, which had now intensified into a full-fledged quake. Suddenly, he felt Elaine's hand on his own. A warm shiver ran through his body like rain after a summer day.

"Don't," she said gently, looking at him. Without realizing what he was doing, he had stepped in front of Elaine and drawn his wand to defend them both.

"But..." he stammered.

A Graphorn came running towards them menacingly. It looked angry, and for a split second, Sharp hesitated, but then he followed Elaine's instruction and put away his wand. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst. When the impact he expected didn't come, he blinked cautiously. The magical creature had stopped just a few inches in front of them.

He had heard stories about Graphorns. About how powerful wizards were heavily injured or died in battle against them. The Ministry had even put bounties on the creatures. But up close, it didn't look so angry anymore. It reached out its tendrils, which swirled around its mouth and strongly resembled tentacles, and touched Elaine with them. The Graphorn snorted and wrapped its tendrils around Elaine's neck.

"It's okay, it's okay," she reassured the magical creature, "Yes, it's me."

When the creature turned towards Sharp and critically eyed him, Elaine spoke to it in a gentle voice, "This is Professor Sharp. He won't hurt you; you can trust him."

Sharp was touched; on the one hand, to hear his colleague say that he could be trusted, and on the other hand, by how gently the Graphorn treated her. The calmness Elaine radiated seemed to affect both him and the Graphorn. He felt himself relax and be overwhelmed by the beauty he observed.

Elaine looked at Sharp over her shoulder, "Most people are afraid of them, but they're actually quite gentle."

Sharp felt a bit caught off guard and lowered his gaze as another Graphorn appeared behind the first one followed by a second, smaller one.

"My goodness, this is unbelievable!" Elaine exclaimed. "You've had offspring!"

When the young one appeared behind its mother, Sharp was speechless. For some reason, the sight of the young one, about a head smaller than him, now purposefully approaching him, deeply moved him. It touched him with its tendrils. The touch tickled a bit, but it was gentle and friendly. Suddenly, Sharp felt a peace within himself that he had never known before, almost bringing tears to his eyes. The little Graphorn purred contentedly.

"It likes you," Elaine explained, now standing next to him and petting the head of the first Graphorn. "Graphorns use their tendrils to sense emotions. I studied them for a while when I was travelling. In the Pyrenees, there are village communities where wizards and Graphorns live peacefully together."

Elaine turned to Sharp, "Because the Ministry keeps hunting down these creatures, they are almost extinct here. That's why they usually attack immediately when they encounter a human in the wild. It might even be that these are the last ones in Britain."

With his mouth slightly open, Sharp looked at the huge Graphorn in front of Elaine. Upon closer inspection, he noticed how gentle the magical creatures looked up close.

"Their eyes..." he began, "they remind me of -"

"Pain?" Elaine tried to finish his sentence. "Graphorns seem to seek the presence of those who have experienced great suffering." They stood silent for a few moments. Sharp alternately looked at the small Graphorn and at his feet. It unsettled him that Elaine seemed to know his greatest vulnerabilities so naturally. But what unsettled him even more was the fact that he felt comfortable in her presence nonetheless. He wasn't used to trusting anyone.

Before he replied, Sharp examined the melancholic look in Elaine's eyes since she had returned here and nodded, "I wanted to say they remind me of you."

Elaine looked at him surprised. Graphorns' eyes were gentle, sad, perhaps even desperate, but above all, they had a fragile, vulnerable expression. Elaine had studied the creatures for a long time; they were intimidating and proud, but also strong, gentle, loyal, and intelligent. They fascinated Elaine, but she hadn't expected to be compared to Graphorns one day.

Suddenly, she started laughing because it sounded like a compliment from Sharp. It was an infectious and heartfelt laughter. Sharp hadn't heard her laugh since she had left school. Since she had been back at Hogwarts, he hadn't seen her smile even once. And he immediately knew that it wasn't a mocking laugh, but a liberating one that drove away the darkness of the past few years for a few seconds. It filled him with joy to see her like this. When she regained her composure, Sharp smiled at her.

There it was again, that feeling that Sharp's smile triggered in her. It touched Elaine and wrapped around her shoulders warm and soft as if it could protect her. For a moment, it felt like Elaine's laughter had dissolved everything that had stood between them, as if there was a particularly strong connection between them. They looked deep into each other's eyes, and for a moment, they both forgot the pain and Scarborough and all those they had lost. For this moment, everything inside them was free.

"I... I need to apologize to you, I shouldn't have..." she began, but Sharp shook his head.

"No," he replied in his deep voice, which sounded unusually calm and gentle, "I should have trusted you. The accusations I made against you... that was unfair. I'm sorry."

Elaine fell silent. Never in her life had she expected him to apologize to her. He looked at her. He looked at her with that penetrating gaze that seemed to look directly into her soul. He looked at her with his dark eyes and all the sadness that lay in them. He took a step towards her. He was so close to her now that she had to look up at him. A trembling tension ran through the silence between them, which slowly transformed into intimacy.

And then Sharp heard something that moved him so deeply as if he had been enchanted. It was the purest and truest thing he had ever heard. At first, he thought he was imagining it, but then a scarlet bird flew overhead, its song filling the vastness of the sky above them.

"Is that... a phoenix?"

Elaine nodded, also moved by the sound that seemed to fill everything around them and inside her. She swallowed and answered in a soft voice, "I've never heard him sing."

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