Disclaimer: I do NOT own Septimus or any of the other characters from the Heap Series!

Septimus woke up to several crashes coming from downstairs. Septimus slipped into his clothes which were lying on the floor, to his dismay, in a dirty pile. He ran down the stairs and found a huge hole in the wall and Spit Fyre eating the shattered remains of Marcia's beloved imported vase. 'Oh no,' Septimus thought, 'Marcia's gonna kill me!'

As if on cue, Marcia Overstrand, ExtraOrdinary Wizard, stumbled through a frightened door. Septimus fumbled for an excuse but before he could stammer out a single word Marcia spoke first.

"Oh, darling are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Before Septimus could say anything Marcia had leaned down, licked her finger, and attempted to clean his face. Septimus caught her hand and looked at her in puzzlement.

".....Marcia?"

"Whatever is the matter deary?" Marcia looked at him with a look of concern on her face, "There's a terrible black smudge of who knows what on your face!"

Septimus starred at Marcia in shock at her motherly response.

"Is everything okay Marcia?"

"Oh, everything is wonderful dear Septimus. Oh, but there is that smudge on your face and oh my! That broken vase!" Marcia hurried over to where Spit Fyre was sitting still trying to munch down the remains of the vase. Ah, yes! Here to come was the yelling and lecturing of Marcia. She was back to normal. Septimus was starting to smile and turned around to find Marcia in his face again.

"Did you step in it? Oh, my then your poor little feet would be a bloody mess! Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my! Your face is turning pale! You must be losing alot of blood!" Marcia was now fussing over Septimus's body trying to find maybe even a slightest bruise. Septimus's face was turning pale but not from loss of blood. This Marcia was scaring him.

"Are you okay Marcia? You seem kinda.........off."

"Didn't your father tell you? We are getting married! Isn't it the most wonderful thing?!"

"What?! B- But what about Sarah?"

Marcia's face fell, "You- You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Oh, we just shouldn't talk about it......"

"Talk about what, Marcia?! What is it?!!!!" Now Septimus was getting angry.

"Deary!! Don't get angry with me. Please don't, it would be a shame if we started out our mother-son relationship like this!!"

"Marcia!!" Septimus yelled at her before storming out the door, which opened accordingly.

Septimus stomped down the rest of the stairs through the wizard tower, muttering about Marcia and mothers. He was going to see his father, Silas Heap, just to find out if what Marcia said was true. It couldn't! Marcia and Silas hated each other! They still do hate each other! They should! It just gave him the creeps that Marcia would be his mother. So the whole while that Septimus was walking through the streets of Wizard Way, he was mumbling to himself. His thoughts abruptly stopped when something caught his eye. Was that a goldfish in a bowl? It couldn't be! That would be nonsense! Septimus shook his head to try to clear the image but still the goldfish remained. There it was, just sitting in its bowl in the middle of the street, staring. It was a frightening image.

Then, it began to hail like never before. Actually it had never hailed before. Septimus starred up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight. He looked back at the fish bowl, and saw that a small umbrella at the top opening had appeared. Septimus rounded the corner and accidentally passed through a ghost. That ghost just happened to be Queen Etheldredda.

She starred at him with her disapproving expression and tutted, "Septimus can't you be more polite. Would you liked to be passed through when you become a ghost someday?I think not." Septimus was then thrown into the Castle's moat. Spiders appeared in the water and took Septimus down, deeper into the water.

Septimus woke from his dream with a start. A familiar voice was calling his name.

" Septimus! Get you but down here!"`

It was Marcia. Yay! She was back to normal.

"Septimus!!! Your dad's here and he needs to tell you something important!!!"