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Professor Sharp has a sweet tooth.
You probably shouldn’t know that. The only reason you do is because you spend way too much time than you should watching him in between pauses in Potions class and dinners in the Great Hall…
That was where you first noticed his love for a dessert. At the Halloween Feast, he must have had two or three Pumpkin Pasties in a row. And at Christmas, he always helped himself to a few extra chocolates before leaving the table for the evening.
You know you shouldn’t watch him so closely, but find yourself unable to look away. When did your curiosity become an obsession? It’s like you need to know him. To unravel his personality and make sense of it. And this small little sweet piece of the puzzle that is Aesop Sharp plays on your mind, in part because it seems so unexpected and so damned irreconcilable with the rest of what you know about the former-Auror and gruff Professor.
It was a few months later when you noticed his other little ritual.
At the end of class, or just after finishing giving instructions on the latest practical, Sharp always sits down at his desk and sneaks his hand into the drawer at his desk.
This is when you first spy Professor Sharp’s hidden sweet stash.
Now, you spend every class waiting to catch the little moment - triumphant whenever you catch him popping that sweet surreptitiously into his mouth. Like it’s a little secret you’re spying on.
You don’t know why this little, relatively innocuous ritual has stayed with you so profoundly. Was it just that it seemed so unexpected given everything else you knew of his character? This little indulgence from a man who seemed so reserved and restrained all the time?
The class is filing out the door at the end of another double Potions lesson on a cold Tuesday afternoon when a loud sigh has you turning round. Sharp shuts his desk drawer shut a little roughly. You spy an empty tin on his desk and realise why he’s in a mood. He’s out .
The thought is so ridiculous you can’t help but laugh under your breath as you make your way up the stairs to the main Atrium. Professor Sharp has a serious oncoming case of sugar withdrawal.
Later that day, you find yourself in Honeydukes. You know exactly why you’ve made the trip, despite the fact it is cold and icy out. You can’t bear the thought of him not having that little moment of joy in his day.
Looking through the shelves stacked with sugary delights, you finally spy the little golden tin of liquorice that matches the flash of yellow you see in Sharp’s desk drawer.
Sneaking into the Potions Classroom later while everyone is at dinner is surprisingly easy. You make your way over to his desk and run your hands over the polished oak. It feels so intimate invading his space like this. You open the drawer and drop the present in along with the note.
- Something sweet to brighten your day -
You imagine his face when he next reaches into his drawer to find the little golden tin there and the note waiting for him. The hundred different emotions that will flit over his expressive face. Shock. Suspicion. But also something soft. Surprise, perhaps that someone has thought of a little act of kindness for him?
You sigh softly as you leave the desk how you found it and sweep out of the classroom.
Sharp has a sweet tooth, but you’re just sweet on him.