Utterly Hopeless: An Ominis Gaunt Love Story

Chapter Twenty-One: The New Professor

(Threa)

Breathe.... Just keep breathing. Just. Keep. Breathing.

I repeated the words over and over to myself forcing air in and out while anxiously pulling at my fingertips trying to distract from the building weight in my heart for the upcoming conversation.

It's just Weasley. What is the worst that can happen? She says no. We already know that is the likely outcome. Not the most ideal but Ominis is right, it's not the end of the world. Just means I'll have to work a bit harder to dissect this ability on my own.

My stomach churned, Merlin, I'm gonna be sick!

Just keep breathing! You're okay. Everything is going to be-

"You cannot be serious," Sharps deep voice boomed down the hall leading towards the transfiguration classroom freezing me instantly. Looking around anxiously for the reprimanding professor, being met with nothing but the eerie sunset illuminating the empty alcove. "This is madness Matilda!"

"Aesop calm down," Professor Weasley scolded as I approached the closed classroom.

"I will not! Someone must be thinking with some reason as it seems to have left you both! She has been through enough as it is. Last year's events at the repository alone call for a type of care and understanding that this stranger cannot even begin to give. He is an utter blowhard, rivaling Black himself in the amount he boasts. He is unsufferable, and conceited and-"

"Your point Aesop," the deputy headmistress bit.

".... I had to pry her from Eleazar's lifeless body as she sobbed for the friend she had lost in pursuit of this knowledge. She is still having nightmares because of the horrors she had to trudge through to survive. Horrors we only have had glimpses of.... So no, Matilda, I will not calm down. She deserves better than this. She is eager to learn more about this gift. To make sure the work she and Eleazar did last year doesn't go in vain. That Eleazar didn't die for nothing! You.... You didn't see her this morning Matilda. You didn't see her face as I told her that the plan Fig and her had may not be possible.... She looked like she did when I pulled her from his corpse..... You can't allow this. Do not do this to her," my throat tightened, images of last year flashing quickly in my mind beating my already anxious heart faster. Keep breathing.

"I understand your concerns Aesop, but my hands are tied. He went directly to the headmaster asking to be her mentor," the older woman grimaced.

"And that doesn't seem peculiar to you? The man just arrived yesterday and is already making requests to mentor a woman he doesn't even know!"

"He is Eleazar's son. It does stand to reason he would have written him of her. That he'd like to meet the person that was with him in his final moments. His father was quite fond of her, would always go on about how much she reminds him of Miriam-" He groaned.

"That doesn't mean he should be the one taking up this task! She doesn't know him! This power she has is miraculous as it is dangerous, she needs someone that she trusts to be able to handle it and her with care!"

"It is out of my hands," she said again as another set of footsteps echoed through the room.

"I agree with Aesop, it is quite strange," Professor Hecate said as Sharp sighed deeply. "But Matilda is right... There is nothing we can do about it. Black has made his decision we must adhere to it."

"Since when are you to roll over so easily," he spat. "You said it yourself last night we will need to watch over her more closely. That the dark wizard threat at king's cross was only the beginning.... You hear the murmurs at the ministry as much as I that this Rookwood Jr. Isn't to be taken lightly. If he is after Threa, she needs to be adequately prepared to fight back!"