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latent-sense-of-loyalty · 3 months

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Ch. III

Word Count: 3529

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It had taken Aesop a few days to come up with some kind of plan. What had once been an empty set of cubicle walls around him were now filled with notes, annotations, witness statements, and a clear picture of what he had to work with. What sat in the middle of it all was the wanted poster of Lenore, her hopeful eyes staring back at him. He could only imagine what she would be looking like now, on the run and in hiding. He had apprehended wizards who had been in hiding for quite a while, and the state they were in, the image of her like that made him shudder.

Throughout the few days here, Aesop was lucky to find the class that Lenore had been training with, some willing to sit and talk with him. Some were less cooperative, not exactly wanting to recount the scene. He did empathise, of course a situation like that would want to be forgotten, yet he could not deny the growing frustration he was feeling. All he wanted were answers, as fast as possible. None of this was making sense to him, and Aesop despised feeling lost like this.

As he was packing up his desk, gathering everything he would need for the next part of this investigation, he heard someone clear their throat, making him turn. Before him stood a young woman, with eyes that took even Aesop aback. Just her rested face alone looked to be throwing iced daggers at him, yet her overall demeanour seemed almost timid and shy. Long black hair framed her face, ties tightly behind her back, falling past her waist. He quickly cleared his own throat, straightening himself. "May I… help you?" He did not recognize her from the class.

"M-Mr. Sharp. I apologise if I was interrupting anything," Her eyes darted between him and the reports and papers surrounding the walls, swallowing nervously. "I just… I heard you were asking about Miss Arkanos and.." Aesop immediately arched a brow, moving closer to the woman.

"Not out here…" His voice was low and quiet, escorting the women to the back of the room. He quickly waved his wand in front of a door, ushering her in before following, locking the door. I side was a basic interrogation room, black walls, a simple table and chairs facing each other in the middle of the room. The woman only noticed sitting down that Aesop had gone to the corner of the room, procuring two porcelain cups of tea. "I know you're nervous, this should help." He placed the cup in front of her, taking a seat across.

As she took a tentative sip, she watched as the man quickly got ready, a piece of parchment with a quill floating at the ready. She also noticed his own notebook, a much smaller quill in hand. After a minute, he was the one this time to clear his throat.

"Alright," his voice was gruff as he readjusted himself in his chair, his mind slipping back into his time as an Auror. "Your name please." His eyes trained on hers carefully, the quill beside him scratching down his words.

"Aia. Aia Shizuku." Her voice still quivered from nerves, her hands unable to keep the tea cup still. After a minute, the woman took a deep breath, nodding to the man.

"Alright… Aia." He tried his best to give her a curt smile, coming across just as uncomfortable as her. 'Damn it has been a while'. "Let us start at the beginning then. How close were you to Miss Arkanos while you trained together?"

"Well, we were quite close." Taking another sip of tea, she set the cup down, finding some kind of confidence. "We were usually training partners. Most of our time here was spent together. We both stayed in the provided dorms here so you could say we were roommates." He could see a twitch of a smile forming. "I remember she could be quite the snarky woman at times."

Aesop did not realise he was chuckling at the comment until he noticed Aia's quizzical stare, clearing his throat. "Apologise." He scribbled down some of his own notes before addressing the woman again. "So I assume being training partners and living together, you two would talk a lot?"

Aia nodded enthusiastically. "She was always very easy to talk to, had a way of really listening to what you say. When we had met I had mentioned how nervous I was since I had only been in this country for a few weeks."

"Where have you travelled here from?"

"My father and I moved here from Japan. After I had graduated Mahoutokoro, my father had been offered a job here at the Ministry. He recommended I work as an Auror." Aesop had to do everything to not hide the look of displeasure on his face, instead keeping it down to look at his notes. "When I had brought it up to her, she told me about a close friend she had from Hogwarts who had previously gone to Uagadou."

Hearing that, Aesop sat straighter in his chair. "Has Miss Arkanos mentioned any of her other previous friendships to you?"

"Yes sir. She always went on about stories about them. There had been one who always found ways to blow things up in potions. Another she had mentioned was one of the greatest quidditch players she had ever seen. There was one she was particularly close with, received owls from him every day. Something… Gaunt?"

For a moment, Aesop could feel his face burn and stomach tighten at her words mentioning her relationship with Ominis. Even he had to admit they were particularly close to one another, especially after her fifth year. Those two, including Sallow, the three were attached at the hip. "Did she ever share what those notes entailed?"

Aia paused for a moment, lips pursed as she toyed with the teacup. "There was one she had mentioned… something about visiting a friend who had lost his sister… he was taking it really hard." Aia looked up to Aesop, the look of sadness in her eyes quite obvious. "She told me she lost someone too, that if it wasn't for someone she knew at Hogwarts, including her friends, that she would probably be really lost."

His chest tightened again, a lump growing in his throat that he fought to swallow down. Fingers hesitated on the parchment beneath him. Aesop knew what a loss like that could do to any person, how they could change. He knew Lenore took Eleazar's loss hard, but to see her grow and flourish, Aesop knew the old man would be proud. But loss never leaves a person, he could attest to that personally.

May 31, 1891

The weather was not helping the mood of the castle, the claps of thunder mixing with the stressed sighs and remarks from students trying to study as much as possible for the oncoming exams. In these moments, the library would be flooded with all kinds of students, all at different stages of panic in their studies. Aesop was never one to turn away a student from extra curricular activities, yet this year it seemed everyone was particularly struggling to find the right headspace to learn after what had happened. With classes having been paused for two weeks, everyone was playing catch up.

The library was trickling out the last few students for the evening, Aesop deciding to make his way back to the potions room to collect some papers to go over for the night. The halls were almost deserted, save for the few stragglers coming in from the storm. As Aesop turned the corner to the potions room, he noticed something that didn't seem right. A trail of water had been leading to the classroom itself. Aesop remembered he had mentioned his classroom being closed as he was to help study hall, so as he rounded the corner, he was shocked to believe the witch that sat in the class.

Lenore was soaked to the bone, shivering in front of the fire. Her eyes seemed distant, almost devoid of any emotion, yet the red puffy skin around her eyes was a close give away that it was not the case. She did not notice that he had approached her until he was nearly beside her. Lenore could not help but jump.

"I-I am so sorry, Professor! I did not mean to intrude, your door was unlocked and I had come to ask for something but clearly you're busy and-"

Aesop had not seen Lenore like this before. Usually she was entirely composed, to a care-free degree. She may have not been Amit, but she was one of the star students of the class, almost being here obsessively. It had been on his mind why a student would need so many wiggenweld and enduras potions, but he never really thought to ask.

Before he could cut in, Lenore looked into his eyes for a moment before completely breaking down, sobs wracking her body as they bounced off of the walls. Aesop had never really dealt with emotions like this, from students or adults. He was not particularly a graceful person when it came to feelings, but he knew that after what she had been through, what he himself had seen personally, it must have been a regular occurrence as of late.

Without speaking he gently led her by the shoulders to his desk, flicking his wand to close and lock the door to the class, knowing that she probably needed privacy in such a state. He pulled up a chair for her, quickly going to his office to retrieve a few items.

Lenore felt nothing short of embarrassed. This isn't what she wanted to happen, to have him see her like this. She did not want anyone to see her so broken. They were all feeling grief from the loss of Professor Fig, they had known him for so much longer, had those bonds with him. But, seeing the man she came to respect as a mentor, a teacher, a friend, die before her. The thought made another sob break from her chest. Lenore did not even notice the blanket being wrapped around her as Aesop returned, placing a cup of something in front of her. The smell wafted around her, sobs now morphing into soft cries.

Aesop knelt down beside her, trying his best to ignore the shooting pain in his leg as his hand softly fell on her shoulder.

"Miss Arkanos… deep breath."

It seemed to somehow break through her cloud of grief, Lenore looking at him as slowly, following Aesop, she breathed in and out, feeling her mind and body slowly relax. After a few minutes, she finally felt brave enough to take a sip of tea, eyes going wide.

"Like it?" Aesop chuckled, feeling confident enough to sit beside her in his chair. "Earl Grey, my personal stash. Brought it with me from home." He could see the worry in her eyes as she began to set down the cup. "No, no, drink." He watched her take another sip, the aroma clearly relaxing her shoulders.

"Thank you… for this." Her voice was meek, a frown pulling at the corners of Aesop's mouth. It didn't suit the confident witch he knew from class.

"No need to thank me. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not always the stern, gruff potions master they say I am." She noticed the slight smirk on his face, taking his own sip of tea. It put her at ease a little. Wiping her face, she let out a shuddering sigh.

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the crackling fire in the classroom and the occasional sip. Aesop took the moment to assess Lenore. Immediately, he noticed how she had not been sleeping, dark bags lining her eyes, eyes that were quite red and bloodshot. Her hair, usually somewhat well kept, if not for the stray leaf or branch, now sat as a mess on her head, clearly unbrushed. It was a familiar image to him, one that brought him back to his own time of personal grieving. For Emrick, for the life he had before. Never would he want anyone to experience that loss, that pain, that complete emptiness in their chest. But seeing it happen before him, he could feel his own wounds want to open.

"How did you do it?"

Her voice ripped him out of his thoughts, Aesop meeting her stare. He could see the tears beginning to form again as she sunk into the blanket. Lenore must have been tipped off at his confusion, as she sat herself up a little more.

"When… when you lost your partner… how did you get over it?" Her voice wavered, trying to take another deep breath to calm herself.

Aesop sat back for a moment, a fist to his mouth in thought. He could feel all the memories and emotions slowly come back, ones that had taken years for him to come to terms with and overcome. He knew, in this situation, he had the advantage of age and time. Nobody can prepare you for losing a loved one, to say Aesop was prepared was a vast understatement. But he was at an age where he could understand his emotions, the risks of his line of work.

The hardest part for him was not accepting the loss of a friend, it was accepting the responsibility that if it wasn't for him insisting they go to that boat, his partner would still be alive.

"I didn't."

Lenore looked up from the cup he was holding, eyes wide with confusion and shock. Aesop took a deep breath, leaning towards her.

"I won't lie to you Miss Arkanos, I still live with what has happened to this day. I don't think there will ever be a day where I.. get over it." Moving his chair a little closer, he leaned down to be at eye level. "But what I have done is learn to live with what has happened. To grow from it, and continue on, for them. Professor Fig was a brilliant man, and with the knowledge of how he cared for you, it would be safe to assume that he would want you to grow, to learn, and use it as a strength. You will always have his memories with you, his lessons and advice. Keep those close to you." He felt a lump growing in his throat, trying to swallow it down. "It is okay to grieve. Just know one day, you will know it is time to continue forward, for yourself, because you know they would want you to. With them in your heart."

Lenore sat there in silence for a moment, just staring at the man dumbfounded. She had heard so much about Professor Sharp, seen it with her own eyes. He was not one to open himself like this. She did see him express pride and happiness, but this, it felt so…. Tender. So real.

"Thank you…" she whispered, tears falling down her red cheeks as she took a deep breath in, making a small smile appear on her face.

"Also… I'll let you in on a secret that will make you feel a little better." Procuring a piece of paper, he scribbled something down, his writing obscured by the empty vials on his desk. When he handed her the paper, she noticed it was directions, with a password written beneath. "A special bathroom for Prefects. They like to keep it locked but that password should get you through. I feel some time in there might make you feel a little.. better."

Lenore could not help but give him a large smile, the first he had seen from her in weeks. "Thank you… for everything." After finishing her tea she was ready to get up and leave, eager to bathe and make herself feel somewhat human again. But as she was leaving, she felt him touch her shoulder again, placing a small vial in her hand.

"This should help you sleep as well. Just need to put a drop of it in whatever beverage you fancy before bed. And Miss Arkanos," his hand fell from her shoulder, his eyes sweet and tender. "If you ever need to discuss anything at all, or just need to brew potions as a distraction, my office is open to you." He was the one now to turn and leave, but something she said before walking out made him stop in his tracks.

"Professor Sharp… call me Lenore"

"So, Miss Shizuku, what can you tell about any of the events leading up to the incident between Miss Arkanos and Mister Rosier?" Aesop hadn't realised he had been silent, Aia snapping him back to reality with a cough.

"Well… honestly… it all seemed okay until Rosier came to the academy." He could see Aia tensing at the question, her fingers picking at each other nervously. "All of us thought the situation was pretty strange in itself."

"May I ask what situation?"

"Well, from what I know, it is extremely unlikely for someone to begin training as an Auror halfway through the first year, or any year for that matter." Aesop immediately sat up straight, a little taken aback.

"You mean, Rosier never started the academy with you?" He was baffled at the statement. Not once, through his time as an Auror, has anyone ever come into training halfway. Nobody would allow such a thing.

Aia nodded in response. "Some had asked the instructor, it seemed very strange. He had said it was a favour for the Minister." The picking continued. Aesop motioned for her to continue. "When he had started training with us, he had zeroed in on Lenore instantly. He demanded to spar with her every chance he got, he would always try to follow us, shouting insults to try and provoke a response." Aesop could feel anger boiling in his chest, the thought of her being cornered like that making his fist clench.

"Lenore was immediately paranoid of him. She had kept telling me she knew him from somewhere, that he had been following her." Aia took a moment to look around the room, then leaned in close. "I…. If I tell you something… can you promise you won't get me in trouble?" He could see the worry and fear in her eyes. This entire time, all other students had kept tight-lipped and silent, so he could only imagine the risk she was taking with this information. He nodded to her in response, a slight bit of tension leaving her.

"We… we snuck into the records office. She needed to know if she was right… and…"

"And?"

"There was nothing.." her voice was barely above a whisper. "No records, paperwork. Nothing." Aia swallowed, looking around again. "The day after… was when everything happened. She was terrified that something was going to happen. That he would hurt someone. I never expected her.."

Aesop leaned back in his chair, letting out a breath. "I understand. After what had happened… have you ever seen her again?"

"No, when she ran away, nobody saw her again until the attacks happened. I just… I can't believe it… I thought I knew her." Aia's voice wavered, Aesop noticing the tears in her eyes. He passed her a box of tissues, waiting for her to compose herself. Looking over his notes, he felt now there were far more questions than answers, frustration and uncertainty growing.

"I want to thank you for your time Miss Shizuku. I assure you that our conversation will be kept private. But I need to know if there is anything else you can tell me, anything that could help lead me to her." He was leaning in on his arms, his eyes showing a small hint of desperation to the woman across. For a moment he watched her think, staring down at her hands before looking back.

"Before what happened, she had let me know she was scared for the people she cared for… that she wanted to make sure they stayed safe. Mister Sharp… I know Lilium.. I know she isn't a killer but…" Aesop held up his hand, not wanting her to break down.

"Miss Shizuku… I promise that I will make sure she is found safely. I will find out what is going on. If anything else comes up, please let me know immediately." Aia nodded, and after a few minutes he watched her leave the office, taking a moment to look back to him with a worried expression.

Aesop felt this had started taking a step forward, now feeling like he had taken three steps back. How did she know Rosier? What did he know about her? The biggest question still on his mind still stared straight back at him, trying her best not to smile. Beside her, sat the names of all the students he remembered seeing her being her closest friends.

What did they know?

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