Mr Holmes and Miss Hooper - a Sherlolly Story

Chapter 2

Molly sat in the staff room, nervously fingering through her teaching planner and trying to recall her timetable without having to fish it out from her bag. She fiddled with the sleeves on her jumper and looked at the lab coat draped across the table beside her. She thought she'd escaped the grips of them after leaving the hospital but apparently, that's what the science teachers wear around here. She was excited to see just what being a teacher at one of the best schools in the country entailed. She'd already befriended the head of the English department, a woman of a similar age named Meena who Molly immediately admired for her elevated position at such a young age. Meena had agreed to show her the ropes and warned her of one of her colleagues in the science department who could apparently be quite a pain. Molly thought nothing of it as anything would be better than endless amounts of dead bodies and dim-witted morgue assistants. She had briefly spoken to the Maths head, Mike Stamford, who seemed nice enough but had to dash off for break duty. The headmistress seemed lovely, a nice lady who was welcoming and sympathetic towards Molly's situation. Molly was already aware that Ms Mofftis was paying her more than she should be on as an N.Q.T. She was more than eternally grateful for that. She already owed the woman more than she could give after Loo had received a full scholarship. Molly knew this was likely down to Loo's merits and knowledge in the entrance exams rather than anything to do with her position but she couldn't help linking all together into one clump of overwhelming gratitude.

Loo had texted her at the start of break and told her her day was going great so far. She'd met the other science teacher - the famed Sherlock Holmes - and Meena, and thought they were amazing. Molly was glad for this because at least if she became friends with these people Loo wouldn't think it too weird having them around the house ... hopefully. Molly did feel bad for her little sister, having to deal with a new city, the loss of her father, a new school, and the fact that her sister was a teacher at said new school. She vowed to try to not make it too unbearable, the last thing she needed was a chance of losing her little sister as well.

Molly picked up her phone and had just finished her reply to Loo when the door swung quietly open and in walked Sherlock. He eyed the petite woman sitting with her back to him, clearly the new teacher by the folders, clearly Molly by her size and her hair. She was barely 5 foot 4, so taller than Loo but not by much, and her hair was the same apart from the fact that it was straight rather than curly. A trait she must have contracted from her mum, considering their father, in his heyday, had dark curls a few shades lighter than his own on the photo that Loo had shown him on her phone when he'd asked her a few more questions about their lives. It became apparent that Molly had sat all of her teaching qualifications whilst still working in the hospital so Sherlock was happy to deduce that she too would not be a goldfish. Sherlock had done a quick google and found out she was one of the most renowned pathologists in the field because of how young she was when she became a specialist registrar. He wondered what had made her choose teaching over pathology work in London but he supposed an elite private school could pay more than an overrun hospital.

"Molly Hooper, is it?"

The small woman nearly flew from her seat she jumped that much. She stumbled to her feet and whipped round to face him, her long ponytail swishing behind her. Sherlock's mind stuttered a bit as he saw how beautiful she was: large doe-like eyes in the loveliest shade of brown he'd ever seen, golden flecks floating in the irises, shorter stray bits of her hair framing her shapely face and her upturned nose coming to a cute scrunch in the middle of her face as she eyed him in confusion. This was new.

"Yes?" The word was elongated, "and you are?"

He snapped from his trance.

"Sherlock Holmes, pleasure." He smiled and held out his hand. As she shook it, he couldn't help but marvel at how tiny her small hand felt enveloped in his larger one. He was filled with this new and overwhelming urge to protect Molly and Loo, seeing as they were alone in this city now. It was a feeling he'd definitely have to dissect later. He'd never formed such a quick attachment before.

She nodded in acknowledgement of his name. "I'm new." Sherlock resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the statement more easily than he thought he would have been able to. "I teach the sciences but I specialise in biology. You're science too, right?" Her voice was soft like Loo's but carried more authority to it, as well as more nerves. All three somehow merged to become this one glorious sound he figured he could never tire of hearing.

"That's right. I specialise in physics and chemistry."

"Looks like we make the perfect team."

Molly's face flushed a bit as she realised what she had just said. Not only had she made a fool of herself when she had jumped out of her skin when this beautiful man had spoken her name in a voice smoother and richer than velvet and chocolate combined, but she had just openly flirted with the man she would be working with. By accident, but still flirting! What made it all worse is the fact that she could already feel the crush forming for this stranger deep within her stomach. She was in trouble.

"Indeed we do." He smiled down at her flushed cheeks, clearly deducing the source of her embarrassment. At his words, she calmed and her breathing became steadier, the fear of immediate rejection and awkwardness now dissipated. "Shall we?" He gestured to the door that led out into the science corridor and she nodded, grabbed her lab coat and walked through the door which he held for her.

"I've met your sister."

"She said." She smiled at him, he mentally took a picture in his mind palace. It was not a smile he wanted to forget any time soon. He marvelled at his want to get to know this woman, his guttural need to learn everything he could about these two undeniably interesting sisters.

"She's a lovely girl. She knows her stuff too, I'd even go as far to say that she may have one of the best young minds I've ever seen, but I do not doubt that that is thanks to you." She blushed again, a most flattering look on her in his eyes, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, she's amazing. I'm really proud of her. Especially after everything-" She paused, "I'm assuming she told you the story."

"You assume correctly." That earned him a light giggle.

"Yeah, she takes to her teachers quickly. Always has. I guess it's because she knows they're human just like she is, unlike most students." Sherlock chuckled deeply, sending an unknown feeling down her spine.

"I knew there was a reason I thought her mind was superior to her classmates. Not many of them are equipped with that little piece of information."

"Well, her mum was a teacher before she left Loo and Dad, but I think she got it from our Grandpa. He was always regaling us with stories from his golden days as an English professor."

"Sounds like quite the man."

"He is. He just couldn't have kept both of us well cared for and him on his feet. It was his good health or nothing in my eyes. He's all we have left and I couldn't make his last years harder by feeding off his part-time wage and pension." She paused, "Sorry, you probably don't want to know any of this. I tend to babble on when I'm nervous." She laughed hesitantly and avoided his gaze.

"I don't mind." He smiled and she looked up at him again, "I think we could become very good friends, Molly Hooper." He liked the way her name rolled off of his tongue, so did she. That gorgeous smile spread across her face again.

"As do I, Sherlock Holmes."

He liked the sound of his name rolling off of her tongue even more. They beamed at each other and nodded as they disappeared into their respective classrooms.