open -- letters back home *

[anastasia thurston]

letters back home to say hello
TAGGED; OPEN -- OUTFIT; HERE -- WORD COUNT; 888

Although Anastasia was happier than ever before, she had struggled to write a letter home to her own mother to explain the good news. It had taken at least 20 pieces of parchment to get the first sentence right – the remaining 19 congregating in the small paper bin to the side of her bed, each screwed up into small crumpled balls. How hard could it be to express the delight and joy Alcott had brought her in a letter? “Eugh…” Ana sighed as she scribbled across the piece of parchment, scrunched it up into a ball and chucked it into the paper bin once more. She was glad Jenna and Kabriel weren’t around to see her frustration – Ana always felt like she was the calm and collected one, not the angst-y seventeen year old she was being at the moment. “Attempt number 21…” she mumbled, starting the letter once more.

'Dear Mother,

Sorry for not writing as much as I promised, life here had been too mundane and usual to warrant a letter. I'm guessing by now you will have opened the box-'

Anastasia's eyes glanced across to the side of her desk where the small black box sat on top of a small cardboard box, ready to be flown by owl across to her mother's house in Paris. It felt like the end of an era for Ana - passing the ring on down to her little sister Claudia after wearing it for so many years. She had a new ring now, one that replaced the old family heirloom that had now been tucked away into the small box. With her eyes taking a quick glance at the new ring that laid upon on left ring finger, the brunette sighed before returning to her note.

'- and will begin to understand why I've returned it home. Alcott decided to surprise me during the recent Mistletoe Ball and proposed. Well, proposed the idea of proposal and I said yes. I know you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet, mother, but he is just... the perfect gentleman. Vague, I know, but there is no other way to describe him. Anyway, please pass the ring onto Claudia - I’m sure she will love it.’

Taking a break from writing the letter to stretch her fingers, the brunette’s eyes wandered once more to the pile of papers and parchment that was sat to the left of her. On top laid one of many photos of Alcott and herself that Mrs Thurston had given the pair before they left following the second visit. Extending her arm out to pick up one of the many photos, Anastasia watched the image for a moment as it moved - something she had only just become accustomed to - with a smile on her face. Her mind could remember the exact moment the photo was taken; Alcott’s mother had practically pulled out the camera as soon as they arrived at the house. With a smile, Ana placed the image on top of the black ring box - ready to wrap it up with the rest of the package.

‘Oh, and I’ve added in a small photo of Alcott and I. His mother took a lot when we went to visit them a few days back - I wouldn’t miss one. Just thought you might want to actually know what he looks like. I’m sure Claudia will be asking about him! We’ll have to arrange a visit during the next school break so you can all meet him.

Love always,
Anastasia’

Signing off the end of the letter with her usual signature, Anastasia bundled all of the items together into the small cardboard box - scrawling her mother’s name and address on the package just in case it got delivered to the wrong place. Without hesitation, the brunette rose from her seat at her desk and began to wrap up warm - a plain but comfy scarf around her neck and a heather grey coat over her arms. For ease, she chose to drop the small package inside of her small black satchel that was kicking around on top of her bed. Anastasia dropped the satchel strap over her shoulder before heading out of the dorm room, locking the door behind her.

Making her way up the cobbled path towards the Owlery, Ana stepped with caution - avoiding any left over snow or ice that had accumulated over the past week or so. The snow had been lovely while it was falling, and had created the perfect backdrop to the Mistletoe Ball, but it just became a pain when real life came knocking. With a sigh, the brunette snuggled deeper into the collar of her coat and her scarf as she took her first hesitant steps up to the entrance of the Owlery. Climbing up the stairs that wrapped around the Owlery, Ana made her way up into the Owlery - walking straight over to where Jasper, her small barn owl, was perched. As she began to attach the parcel to Jasper’s leg, she heard a loud bang echo from behind her - causing Anastasia to spin round almost instantly. “Hello?” she questioned, looking around the Owlery to see where the noise came from, “Is anyone in here? I heard a bang...”

[Otis Barberis]

He had finally come back to Beauxbatons after completing six months of his internship position over in England. It had all been so surreal and completely life changing. It had been nice to take a break from the drag of the same old school schedule for so many years and after six months, Otis had found himself daydreaming about what was going on back at his school in Beauxbatons. Otis had planned to stay for a full year, but it was hard having people be in your life for such a long time and then cut them off to pursue his dreams. Otis realized he was being a bit of an ass for not even writing to anybody. Did any of those crazy adventures with those two best friends of his mean anything? They had been his escape from his serious attitude he had towards his future. Otis couldn't escape his future because he had been seeing it more and more lately. It was an odd concept really. He hadn't had many visions while at Beauxbatons, but that's because he couldn't see that far into the future. His future had been so far off that he didn't see no end. They were always trivial things like what the weather was going to be next weekend or who was around the corner. There had been only a few life changing visions he had and that was when he saw a vampire attacking his younger brother, Chrysander and intervened. That had been one of the most scariest things Otis had ever encountered and was glad his brother wasn't a vampire. Not that he wouldn't accept his brother if he was a vampire, it's just that Otis would feel bad for him. Being a vampire was a bit depressing. Chrysander would live for eternity and watch all his family and the few friends he had die. He'd be a fifteen year old forever. Otis shuddered at the thought. The other vision he had was when he had been acquaintances with Natalie. She hadn't known how to swim then and Otis basically saved the poor girl from drowning. He was glad too because she ended up being his first girlfriend. Otis had often wondered where she was sometimes since he knew that she wouldn't be coming back to Beauxbatons any time soon or even see her in England. The chances were too small. He often tried to force a vision to try and spot her, but that failed miserably. It was for the best though. He let go of her and knew he needed to move on.

In England, he saw all sorts of things. He saw vague images of his future that occurred in England as well as what he recognized as his hometown of Greece. Otis would love to go back to his homeland one day and settle down. He always had a dream of creating a better system over there or even a school like Beauxbatons or even Hogwarts. He wanted to give children of the Eastern portion of Europe a better opportunity to educate themselves. There was always Durmstrang where his cousins went, but that place sounded so vile and turned out witches and wizards that had their minds corrupt with truths that were just completely wrong. Most of the visions he had been seeing where of Beauxbatons. He saw himself graduating along side his closest friends and it was then that Otis decided to postpone the last half of his internship. The people that had invited him to England weren't exactly happy, but Otis ensured them that he would be back one day again.

He had just arrived back to school yesterday and hadn't really told anybody yet. He wasn't sure how to go about and announce his return to his beloved school. It was almost awkward not to have his Head Boy badge pinned to his clothing. He felt empty without the title he had for such a long time. He had to give it up though to go abroad and he was sure whoever had his position now was doing a wonderful job. Otis would have more free time and to explore other things. He would miss walking with his fellow prefects and even Morrigan when she was Head Girl. Those had been the golden days for Otis. It was time for a new age now that Otis had left and come back as if he was starting over. He knew he was exaggerating a bit since he was still a third year, but he wasn't Head Boy and his older brother, Atlas, had gone off to some other country now that he had more than enough money to continue his traveling. Otis did have a bit of hope that he'd find someone here and settle down instead of continuing to travel around. He did have a kid after all. Otis wasn't even really sure what was going on, but Otis knew he wouldn't be seeing his nephew any time soon since the Librarian he knocked up had left as well. It was all just a bit different for Otis to have known the librarian for so long after going to the library so many times and then finding out she had his brother's baby. It really sent painful shivers down his spine as he tried not to picture anything.

He was currently on his way to the Owlry to send Atlas a letter to ask him how he was, where he was and if he was enjoying himself. He had included a question about the baby since Otis knew Atlas shouldn't just ignore the fact like he probably so wanted to. It was the only second day back, but Otis didn't see any familiar faces at all. He had some people stare at him, but Otis wasn't sure if it was because he was much taller than everybody else. He stood at a good height of six feet and two inches. Atlas was six and a half inches. It was perfectly normal to be tall in his family. His sisters weren't going to be six feet, but they were definitely above average. Even Chrysander was getting there. He was going to be a late bloomer since he still seemed short to Otis. He still could find his way around Beauxbatons which Otis was grateful for. All those terms of walking the school had been engrained into his brain and muscle memory. With it being his least favorite season of the year, Otis made sure to go slow up the slippery steps and had managed to not fall down the many stairs. Otis remembered his first few winters here and that he got many bruises from slipping all the time.

It was definitely a relief to feel that winter here in France wasn't as brutal as England's. They were more north and Otis seriously thought he was going to freeze to death. Still, Otis was bundled up in a thick scarf a girl had made him back in England, a knit hat his mother made him when he first came to Beauxbatons, wool mittens and a coat that went all the way to his knees to conceal most of his body from the biter air. The only skin exposed was the area around his eyes. He had his letter tucked away in the inside pocket of his jacket and as soon as he walked into the Owlry, he began to climb some stairs. He only had to go up one flight since he saw his owl perched in one of the hole made for the owls to rest in. As he made his way over to his owl, Otis's feet met ice and in a blink of an eye he was on his back. Groaning, Otis swore. He squeezed his eyes shut and cursed the winter season some more. He wasn't even alone in this Owlry. Obviously that's how it always worked. Otis sat up and just sat on the floor. At least he didn't land on any owl pellets. "Oh it was just me being incompetent with winter. No need to worry." Otis told to questioning person.

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