Chapter One
Marcia reclined, outstretched on the sofa. She wiggled her toes and yawned, arching her back. She kept her eyes closed and inhaled the scents of the secretive house around her. She could smell the embers of the fire burning out, the scent of tea and biscuits coming from the kitchen, and best of all she could smell Marcellus. The rich scent of Alchemy swirled in the air and the longer she spent inside this strange house on Snake Slipway the more she grew attached to Alchemy.
She was the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. She wasn't supposed to be finding her feet in a relationship with an Alchemist. She knew that this was why they were keeping their new found love for each other a secret from everyone, even Septimus. Besides, they were comfortable this way. It was too soon for people to know. It would kill the magyk of it, so to speak.
She stretched her arms above her head and listened to the sounds of Marcellus rummaging around in the Kitchen attempting to fix her some breakfast. They had fallen asleep together on the sofa the night before. They'd been seeing each other for two weeks now, the longest relationship Marcia had ever had. Well, first relationship she'd ever had. She was new to this 'dating' thing that people did, and it bugged her, knowing that Marcellus had already done it. He'd been married before, buried his first love, he'd lived for over five hundred years. Whoa, that was some age gap.
Wiping all negative thoughts from her mind she finally opened her eyes and stared at the dog shaped stain on the ceiling. Not exactly romantic, but it made her chuckle anyway. She glanced out of the window…it was bright outside. She guessed it was around nine o'clock in the morning, and finally sat up. She needed to get dressed and get back to the Wizard Tower before Septimus figured out that she'd been away all night. The last time she had gotten back to the Tower at noon, and Septimus had asked her where she'd been she'd had to think quickly and said she left early to do some errands and forgot to leave a note.
She felt sneaky….and she loved it. She got dressed and made her way into the kitchen to find Marcellus. He hadn't heard her get up and was surprised when she snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest.
"Good morning." He twisted round, putting the pot in front of him down and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. Hmm, girlfriend. That felt weird. He kissed the top of her head and affectionately mussed her hair up. "Are you staying for breakfast this morning or are you sneaking away again?"
She looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest. He leant down to kiss her. She grinned when he pulled away. "It's best if I go now."
"Septimus?" He asked, already knowing the answer but he waited for her to nod anyway. She pulled away from his warm embrace and straightened her outfit. He watched her, as she leant towards him, placing her hand on his cheek and kissing him gently.
"Goodbye, Marcellus." She said against his lips, and kissed him once more before turning to leave.
He sighed and watched her go, having to lean against the kitchen worktop for support, fearing that his legs were going to buckle underneath him. He gripped the side as she shut the front door.
"My girlfriend."
He smiled.
When Marcia finally got back to the Wizard Tower Septimus was sitting with Jim Knee on the plump purple sofa in front of the fire place. He turned to look at her pointedly as the door swung open.
"Oh, you're up! Morning Septimus." She said making her way towards him.
"Where do you go?" He asked. She frowned at him. She really needed to get up earlier. Her and Marcellus had agreed that she go to him and not the other way around. There was no need to risk him bumping into Septimus in the middle of the night on the way to the toilet or when he woke up in the morning. It would be too much hassle trying to sneak him out. "Oh, you know. Errands." She stated and turned to make her way up to the library to do some unfinished documentation.
Septimus got up and ran after her. "What errands? You're never here when I wake up in the mornings anymore."
She spun on her heels. "Forgive me, Septimus. But when exactly did you become my father? I do not have to explain to you where I am going or where I have been and why I have been there. Do you understand me?" She snapped.
He nodded. "I was only asking."
She inhaled through gritted teeth, trying not to get too worked up. She didn't want to make herself angry and then let something slip about her secret relationship with the castle's Alchemist. She sighed.
"I know." She turned and made her way up to her desk, leaving Septimus standing in the stairwell.
"Well, that went splendidly." She said, sitting down in her chair and finding where she'd left her glasses.
Half an hour later Marcellus had finished his breakfast and was cleaning up when someone knocked on his door. He raised his eyebrows in confusion. Maybe Marcia had left something. He opened the door without thinking to check who it was.
"Marcie did you leave somethi… Septimus!" He stared at him with wide eyes. That was not quite what he'd expected and now…
"Marcie?" Septimus asked. "Who's Marcie…Marcia?"
"Uh…" Marcellus panicked. She was going to kill him when she found out.
"And why would she leave something…has she been here this morning?" Septimus looked puzzled. But it was obvious to Marcellus the exact moment when he realized the truth of the situation. His eyes widened and he stepped off of the doorstep, backing away from Marcellus.
"Y-y-you and Marcia…are together?" Marcellus needn't reply. Septimus had already left.
Septimus shut himself in his room for the rest of the day and Marcia had to wonder why. She'd left at two to buy some sweets, hoping to coax him out of his room. But nothing worked. He stayed put and wouldn't tell her why. She was concerned. Was it her fault? Maybe she should try talking to him about Marcellus.
It was nearly four o'clock when someone knocked on the big door to her rooms at the top of the Wizard Tower.
"Open!" Marcia called, chewing on a cherry flavoured sugar snake. The door swung open to reveal a very stressed Marcellus, eyeing the door suspiciously, and taking a long quick stride into her rooms before it could shut on him. Marcia smirked at him before mouthing 'what are you doing here?'
He smiled awkwardly at her. "Uh…" He hesitated, and then suggested they move this into the privacy of her bedroom, in case Septimus heard.
"This is all very suspect, Marcellus. I hope you have a good reason for…"
He cut her off. "Septimus knows about us."
She froze, mid-chew on her snake that she'd brought for Septimus, only to later discover that he hated cherry flavour but loved the disgusting liquorice stuff that she hated.
She looked at Marcellus, calmly. It wasn't long though before she started shaking. "WHAT?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He raced towards her catching her before she fell and she clung to him.
"This cannot be happening." She buried her head in his neck. "Wait, how does he know?" She pulled back to meet his concerned face.
"He came to my house earlier today…I thought he was you…" He didn't finish his sentence before Marcia had rid herself of his embrace completely and walked backwards to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Oh my god." She buried her face in her hands. This was not happening, it couldn't be.
Marcellus sunk to his knees in front of her. "Marcia. It'll be OK. It's best that he knows. It's just a bit quicker than we wanted and not exactly the way we wanted to tell him. But it will be OK, Marce. I promise." He pulled her hands away from her face and held them in his, forcing her to look at him.
"What are we going to do Marcellus?" She asked.
"You should have been honest with me." Septimus appeared in her doorway. She pulled her hands out of Marcellus' grasp, much to his dismay and stood up, causing Marcellus to fall on his back.
"Ow." He complained. She helped him up and they both stood awkwardly in front of him.
"Septimus, listen…" Marcellus began. "Marcia and I have recently, well."
"Started a relationship." Marcia finished.
Septimus nodded. "I figured. I just wish you would have told me."
"It hasn't been long. Only two weeks."
"It's OK. Actually you belong together. You're both as irritating and demanding as each other."
Marcia and Marcellus looked at each other, and couldn't contain the infectious smile that broke out onto their faces.