AN: I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Teal the Banned for a couple of things... First, thank you for your reviews, you've no idea how much it lifts my spirits :) and secondly, it's technically because of you that I've started my little (big) project :) So thanks for being an awesome reader and getting my into that wonderful little horror game that's slightly taken over my life XD

Here's another chapter (bit longer than last time thank god :))

Arianna woke up with a start as Ellen's alarm clock rang. Her roommate slammed her hand on the blasted contraption to stop it giving them both a headache, before rolling out of bed. Arianna was about to snuggle back down into her covers, desperate for more sleep, but them she remembered…

"Breakfast!" she cried, rolling out of her bed, and ending up on her bottom, tangled up in Hieronymous' cloak. Ellen looked at her.

"You never want breakfast… And… Are you still wearing the cloak?" she asked, slightly stunned. Arianna looked at herself.

"Oh… Yeah, I am…" she grinned sheepishly. "He said to give it back at breakfast today."

"You're meeting him for breakfast?"

"He wants to make sure I eat. I wouldn't be surprised if he gave me detention for not showing up."

Ellen snickered. "Well, at least he had that on his side; I failed miserably at getting you to eat. You should hurry up, it's nearly seven, and the Professor seems the type to eat early."

Arianna stared at the clock for a moment, before springing into action, turning into a flurry of clothing, as she changed into a pair of jeans and a stripy white and blue top. Ellen was pulling her pyjamas over her head as Arianna bolted from the room, towards the dining hall.

Ellen smiled as the door swung shut and wondered how long it would be until they both admitted their feelings for each other… Arianna may have told them that she admired him, but she certainly hadn't admitted to them, or herself, that she had feelings for her husband (even if it was painfully obvious to Ellen). As for the Professor… He'd given her his cloak to keep her warm. He was worried about her eating right… And he hadn't given her demerits for being out past curfew, because somehow he understood that she was upset, and he didn't want to make it worse. It was so obvious that the two cared for each other, but she figured being married was probably enough of a push for them that they wouldn't need any help discovering their feelings, however long it might take them.

Arianna slowed to a walk as she approached the doors, and focussed on correcting her breathing.

She almost expected a sea of eyes to stare at her when she entered the hall, but there were only about fifteen people in the hall, and none of them looked at her. Scanning the room, she quickly found him, approaching the table, which was laid with various cereals, toast, bacon, eggs and more besides. He was missing a certain cloak… She hurried over.

"Good morning." She said, sidling up beside him with a smile. "Here's your cloak." She held out the object in question, which was neatly folded. He turned and smirked, seeming a little surprised but hiding it well.

"Good morning. I was rather expecting you not to appear. Thank you." He said, taking the cloak and putting it on, before grabbing himself a bowl for cereal. She followed suit; she was someone who loved variety, she didn't just have the same thing for breakfast every morning…

"Well, I imagine you'd give me detention if I didn't come… and spend it making me eat dry toast, or something." She joked. He remained stoic, but the smirk remained.

"What a good idea." He muttered darkly. She jumped a little, and he chuckled. "See to it that you show up then."

Breakfast passed in relative peace, although Arianna struggled to have more than about three mouthfuls of her cereal…

"You really haven't been looking after yourself. Do you think I'll always be able to take care of you?" Hieronymous grumbled when she gave up. She looked down with a huff.

"At the moment, you have to." She mumbled. "But no… I don't." she seemed sad, but he didn't pry.

When they separated, he simply said "I will see you at lunch" and disappeared down the hall.

She spent her morning reading, trying to keep her mind away from sad thoughts. She managed for the most part, only crying once…

When she saw that it was quarter to twelve, she hopped off her bed and changed into her uniform. She had a little time between lunch and her white magic lesson, but if she didn't change before lunch she'd probably forget…

When she arrived in the dining hall, Hieronymous was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged and sat down with a chicken sandwich, although she thought it was closer to stale turkey when she took a bite… It was so dry.

He finally arrived at 12:15, sitting opposite her with a small plate of pasta.

"You came early." He said, and she couldn't really tell what emotion he was trying to convey; if any. She shrugged.

"Not early, on time. Don't expect it every day." She replied nonchalantly, taking a defiant bite of her sandwich, and then making a face. "Ugh, this is vile…" she dropped it on the plate, struggling to swallow the dry mess of bread and chicken. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then why did you pick it?"

"Because I like chicken… I wasn't excepting dry turkey." She spat, pushing the plate away from her.

"Get something else then, foolish girl." He muttered.

"Is that going to become a nickname…?" she murmured, agitated.

"Perhaps."

She turned and stalked to the table, returning moments later with a jam sandwich.

"Popular opinion suggests the jam sandwiches are less than desirable."

"Then I'll probably like them." She muttered sarcastically, casting him a look. He frowned.

"And that means?"

"Popular opinion suggests you're less than desirable too." She said with a wink, taking a bit of her second attempt at lunch. She smiled. "It's not so bad after all."

He grimaced. "I should prefer not to be compared with a sandwich."

She just grinned, finishing half the sandwich quite happily before she began to struggle. She sighed.

"Don't force yourself to eat too much." He grumbled in his lecturer's voice.

"Make your mind up…"

"It will do you no good to eat too much and throw it up because you're too full." He explained, pointing his plastic fork at her. She sighed.

"Fine."

When he was finished, he walked her to the white magic classroom, and she glowered the whole way there. "Why are you walking me to class?"

"To make sure you go." He said matter-of-factly.

"Ugh." They were silent for the remainder of the trip, and separated in much the same way as they had that morning.

Dinner passed in a similar fashion, and finally Arianna returned to her room and collapsed on her bed with a groan. Ellen looked up from her desk, taking in the frown on her roommate's face.

"He didn't give you a hard time of it, did he?" she asked, concerned.

"He's like an overbearing parent!" Arianna cried exasperatedly.

"Or a teacher?" Ellen prompted with a smirk.

"An over-bearing one!" she emphasised, and Ellen laughed. "You're meant to be on my side!"

"Just seems to me like that's him worrying about you and covering it up with ordinary teacher actions, and it's working." She explained with a shrug before turning back to her work. Arianna sighed.

"I guess…" she pulled out her diary.

Monday June 9th 2014

Dear Diary,

I'm exhausted… Hieronymous insists I eat with him now, just to make sure I'm actually eating… I only managed about half of each meal; I guess my stomach shrank.

It's nice to see him so often, but… Our conversation is always so… Awkward. It's like we never had that conversation. God damn it… I know he's worried, but can't he show it in any form other than "concerned teacher"?

I guess that's not his nature. I mean, I like him for who he is, but still… I feel like who I'm seeing isn't the real him, just a defensive shell… I don't know how to get through it.

I guess I just have to keep going the way I was before, and hope…

She fell into the routine quite easily, despite how much stress it had caused her in the first instance. She'd roll out of bed (usually literally) each morning, dress in ordinary clothes, meet him for breakfast, study… cry… then change into her robes before lunch in the week, meet him for lunch, go to whatever class it was that day (or study more if it was the weekend), have dinner, then return to write in her diary. Mostly, she wrote about what she'd learnt or reviewed in the lesson, and any interesting topics of conversation (rare though they were) that she'd discussed with Hieronymous. It took a couple of days before she was able to eat a full meal.

The days turned into weeks… and eventually, a day arrived on which she did not cry…

Okay, warning you guys now, a large time jump is about to happen XD

Please don't forget to let me know what you think x Your feedback is what keeps me writing :) x