The Forbidden Love of Aesop Sharp

Chapter 36 - Tensions

"How is this possible?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what to say... When Miss Evans left the castle, Headmistress Weasley called me to take back her place at the Hospital Wing," the new Hogwarts nurse seemed disconcerted by the interrogation she was undergoing. Her gaze shifted from Sharp to Sebastian while I stood back, observing the patients around us.

The infirmary wasn't as crowded when I worked there. I had developed a working method that allowed me to prepare the ointments and potions needed for care outside the hours of the day when students tended to require more attention. Of course, it required flexibility as it was a very demanding job that had forced me more than once to stay awake all night to ensure sufficient supplies.

A potion station had been set up at the back of the room, near my old office, and we could observe the wafts emanating from the two large bubbling cauldrons. Just next to it, on a hospital bed, a young man coughed and tried to shield his airways, which were being attacked by the vapors.

Wandering my gaze further across the rest of the room, I also noticed the tools necessary for practicing medicine strewn everywhere, in full view and within reach of the students, thereby breaking the primary safety rules that were meant to keep the tools away from students and ensure the nurse's access at all times.

"What's your name again?" Sharp questioned disdainfully as he cast the same alarmed look over the room that I did.

"Myra," the young woman replied in a trembling voice. "Myra Fig." She was tall and slender, but in the presence of the two men in front of her, she seemed to shrink in place. Her long black hair was pulled into a bun, but it didn't hide the grease that clung to it, after only a few days of work here. Her darkened circles and reddened eyes showed how worn out she already was.

"Anything related to Eleazar Fig?" Sebastian intervened with a calmer voice, intrigued.

"Yes... my mother was his niece," she declared, on the verge of crying.

"What were you doing before coming here to Hogwarts?" Sharp resumed, disregarding Sebastian's intervention.

"I am still a student at St. Mungo's hospital," she replied, shaken by a sob.

My lips stretched into a weak smile, filled with empathy, and I turned away from them to leave the Hospital Wing. The chaotic sight of these places triggered an intense feeling of guilt. My abrupt decision to leave Hogwarts for Japan had left little time for Matilda Weasley to find someone to succeed me. Nurse Blainey had refused to take back her position, and my assistant had also left Hogwarts, accepting a position at St. Mungo's Hospital. In fact, according to Myra, she was the only person who had agreed to take over the position in such a short time.

"There's nothing to do; she won't leave her place here," Sebastian stated as he joined me in the corridor.

"It was predictable," I replied with a faint smile. "I resigned from my position; I didn't expect to find my job back."

"It's a shame," declared Sharp as he joined us, his usual scowl more pronounced than ever. "She has no skills to manage the Hospital Wing, she will put students in danger."

"Give her some time; it's not easy to handle this position. She'll eventually find her own rhythm," I remarked with more confidence.

"You didn't need time when you came here; nobody ever had to complain about your work," he noted curtly.

I chuckled, "She's still a student, while I was working in a hospital before coming here. It's two different things."

Sebastian came closer to me. "And you were a doctor... she's just..."