AN: Thank you so much for the reviews guys! I'm so glad you like it :D I hope I won't disappoint you XD

Chapters will usually take the form of a day, and its events, but obviously there will be time hops and stuff :') It's hard to explain! Here's the next chapter though! Enjoy x

Wednesday May 7th 2014

Arianna stared down at the paper on her desk. Three days now she'd been trying to write a letter to Hieronymous… Her Professor, and her Husband. She had things to tell him… But it just didn't seem like she could find the words to express her rage at whoever had put that picture in the yearbook… She had her theories of course. Theories she was certain her husband would agree with.

However, her hand was aching from holding her pen above the page, "Dear Hieronymous" was as far as she had got… She put the pen down with an exasperated sigh and stood from her desk, as she heard a mild thump from the bottom of the stairs. The mail.

She hurried downstairs and picked up the small stack of envelopes, suddenly missing her Saturday morning duties. Despite the sheer bliss of a lie-in, she missed her talks with Hieronymous on those mornings, and it had become rather routine. Regardless, she shuffled through the envelopes, glancing at the names. Several for her Mom, a couple for her Dad… and one with her name on it. Her heart stopped for a moment as she recognised the handwriting, and slowly she smiled.

She practically skipped into the kitchen, where her Mom was making coffee, and placed all the envelopes, save the one marked as hers, on the table.

"Mail, Mom!" she said as she left, not waiting for a reply and instead hurrying back to her room and closing the door. She sat down, cross-legged, on her bed.

She took care not to tear the envelope as she opened it and slipped the parchment out, placing the envelope beside her and unfolding the page to read it.

Dear Arianna,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I must admit I didn't quite know how to write a letter to you, but I imagine you were having similar trouble, so I saw it best to just begin as best I could.

Arianna chuckled. It was true, and she was certainly glad that he'd thought to do that, otherwise they may have gone the entire summer without so much as a sentence to one another.

How fares your summer break so far? I must admit my own is currently much less of a break than could be expected, as I have been summoned to a multitude of teachers meetings, which are as dull as you can imagine.

I hope affairs with your parents are better than what you told me last term, I too know how it can feel to be ignored by one's family.

Arianna's eyes widened. He was a little less guarded in letters, it would seem… Not much, though. The same cool reserve he had in face-to-face encounters was certainly present. He'd never spoken about his Father before… Although Arianna had certainly assumed he would have been raised less by him than by staff, due to his background. Still, it was odd.

Perhaps I should not speak of such disheartening things. Instead, I must ask if you are finding any time to go over your studies. I understand it is always difficult for any Wildseed student to study during the breaks, due to keeping the secret from their families, but I would be dreadfully disappointed if you were to forget any of the material learnt over the course of the year due to this unfortunate circumstance.

If ever you wish to go over any of the material, a short communication using the Farspeak spell may be possible, though I would not recommend it, as your magical capabilities are still unexplored, and it would put a considerable amount of strain on you.

Regardless, I shall look forward to your reply.

Yours,
Hieronymous.

Arianna stared at the parchment, a smile playing across her lips. Of course he'd worry about her studies. How could she expect him not to? She might end up taking him up on the offer of a Farspeak conversation, though… She was already hazy on some of the details they'd covered in their last Red Magic lesson… Another time, though. Now, she wanted to compose a reply…

Dear Hieronymous,

I am well, I hope you are the same, and you were correct… I had no idea how to begin writing; though I must discuss things with you, which I will get to later.

My summer break has been lovely so far. It's been nice to lie in on Saturdays, though I must admit I kind of miss Treasurer duty (I know, I'm weird… I've been called that a lot). I hope all the meetings haven't bored you to death!

As for my parents, things are… disconcerting. Everything seemed to be fine as we drove home. They asked a few questions (most of the answers were lies…) and they seemed genuinely interested. But once we were home, it was like I was suddenly just a ghost in their home… My Mom keeps forgetting to set my place at the table, even though she cooks for three. Frankly, it's a little… depressing to watch.

My studies, as you say, are difficult to keep up with, what with hiding what I'm studying from my parents (I told them you taught history… and Professor Potsdam English – most English teachers I've had are certainly nearly as wacky as her). I am struggling to remember some of the finer points of the last spell we learnt in Red Magic class, and I fear other things may slip over time.

However, I shall not attempt a Farspeak spell yet, since I imagine you shall want to do that yourself after reading the information I am about to write… Besides that, I don't believe I have the skill to sustain a communication for much more than a few seconds. But back to the point…

I was looking through the yearbook the other day, since I had not had a chance to read it properly yet (by the way, I put an illusion charm on it, it looks like a history magazine unless I pick it up… I'm quite proud of that). I noticed a few… details… which I think warrant a talk (or more likely complaint) with Professor Potsdam…

Firstly, would be my student profile, which would be fine if it were not for the use of my official last name "Farrel-Grabiner"… Not to say that I have objections against the name itself (I never meant to offend…), but its use in the yearbook, I fear, will give the rest of my year certain impressions, which they already think as it is... Specifically the fact that I mentioned my favourite subject is Blue Magic, and my quote: "Discovering magic was the most wonderful thing that could have happened to me." This, although true, possibly implies that I had meant to instigate the circumstances that lead to our marriage, a fact that is most decidedly false (I was just an idiot…).

The profile, however, I can overlook… It does not suggest anything which my classmates have not already speculated, not that much remains for them to speculate… The thing I am particularly angry at is the picture collage in the second half of the yearbook…

I'm sure you remember the morning that a student took a photo of us talking, and you threatened them, telling them never to do it again, and not to use the photograph… They used it. It's in the yearbook, with a caption no less. The caption is quite obviously in Professor Potsdam's handwriting and says "The happy couple"… I had to throw the book across the room to prevent myself burning it.

This letter has ended up stupidly long… I'm really sorry. I hope I haven't left you in too much of a bad mood after telling you about the yearbook… I just thought you should know.

Sorry again,
Arianna.

She read the letter through, cringing at points, but deciding they were not bad enough to warrant a re-write, so she folding the paper neatly, and placed it in an envelope, copying the address for Iris academy from the top of his letter, with "Professor H. Grabiner" scrawled above it. Arianna found comparing her handwriting to her husband's was quite despressing, and resolved to send the letter as soon as possible, so she didn't have to look at the two things side-by-side for too long.

After slipping his letter under her pillow, she hurried down the stairs.

"Mom, I'm just gonna go to the post office, 'kay?" she called as she passed the living room, where her mom was sat on the couch, drinking the coffee she'd been making before, watching some old movie on the TV.

Her only reply was a "mm-hm", which Arianna found disheartening… She could feel the distance between them… She wished there were something she could do.

Silently, she slipped her shoes on, checking that she had money for stamps, and dashed out the door. A brisk walk found her at the post office within ten minutes, and she bought several first-class stamps, and sent the letter, hoping it would reach him by the end of the week.

She took the walk back to her house slower, appreciating the warmth of the air and the sun on her face.

She would spend the following three days worrying about her husband's reaction to her letter, and regretting –ever so slightly- breaking such news to him…

So that's chapter two :) YAY LETTERS! I do plan eventually on doing a seperate fic to do with the letters exchanged over the summer break between the Grabiners, but it will be on a different timeline to this entirely... God knows when I'll write it though XD Reviews keep me going, so don't forget to let me know what you think :D x