Escaping and Relaxation Chapter 28:
Arthur rubbed the temples of his head in a futile attempt dispel the headache that had come upon him during Peter's last tantrum.
How in the name of Dumbledore had he been so unfortunate to be saddled with such an uncivilized little brother?
True, his older brothers weren't exactly civilized themselves, however none of them had ever held so many tantrums as Peter did.
Nor so loud.
Worst of all; as the two youngest brothers, their rooms were next to each other.
His only consolation as Peter's tantrum continued even after he'd locked himself into his room, was that there was no way his little brother could get into his (Arthur's) room if he felt so inclined to do so.
However, the noises did. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Peter started to bang on the wall between them.
Although, Arthur appreciated, even liked the efforts his parents had put in to make the castle warmer and more comfortable than its stone façade would normally produce, the wooden partitions between the rooms made things/noises less soundproof.
He tried to ignore it, but eventually had to give up.
Knowing that Peter would storm his door if he tried the door, he used the window.
Fastening his wand to his left lapel, he climbed down the castle wall, and into the little forest in the garden. As always, he felt at ease and in peace with the world when he was in a forest. Any forest. With silly little pixies flying around, tracks of unicorns who sometimes graciously visited this little glen and just the plain smell of everything forest, his soul was perfectly blissfully happy.
He closed his eyes …
… only to immediately open them when he felt something flutter on his head. Fully expecting to see a pixie or something like that, he was flabbergasted to see a letter on the ground.
He looked around, and barely saw a raven fly away.
'Irina.', he thought. The raven had probably been hiding in the shadows of the trees, biding its time. At least it didn't scare him half to death like it had done last year.
As Arthur bent down to pick up the letter, he thought about Irina's response to why she'd chosen a raven to deliver letters when she was at home,
'Bats can't fly that long with that kind of weight. Nor can I send them out during all hours of the day, as they're more nocturnal than owls.'
Then he picked up the letter, which opened at his touch, and read it,
Arthur,
I simply had to tell someone, and as I know I can trust you (although I did ask my mother to put a Sealing Charm on it that makes it impossible for anyone else but the recipient to open it up, so make sure to close it after reading), I decided to tell you. I thought about telling Lukas, but it is my understanding that he has got a lot on his plate during the Holidays, and I believe that Køhler chap may be more under his skin than he lets on, so, here I am, telling you:
The Ministry has allowed me to get a Time-Turner!
For Third Year!
Which, as you know, will allow me to take all the classes that I want to take! I know that the Ministry don't usually come to decisions like these before the start of the year in question, but because of the Hetalia Club they needed to come to a decision rather fast, though they stressed in their letter that that didn't mean that they considered me an asset or that I by using the Time-Turner, assign or promise myself in any way to the Ministry itself.
But I'd to promise very, what's the expression your English people use, very tooth-and-nail not to tell anyone (except for one person whom I knew I could trust), about the Time-Turner.
See you after Christmas, and thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Irina Vlad
Arthur began to smile, then realization dawned on him.
The Hetalia Club. Having been appointed leader his First Year, he was supposed to prepare for the upcoming semester.
He hurried back to his room with that in mind because Peter's tantrum be damned, he was going to have something tangible to build a proper educating foundation on by the end of the day.
Author's notes:
It's important to see how people not our main characters live and go on about their lives. Everything in this chapter is also important to the plot; I promise.
In the next chapter:
Preparations complete, Arthur picked up his quill to pen a letter to Irina, in reply to the one she'd sent.