A SEA BETWEEN

Chapter 17: Before the switch..

Quick notes:

When I posted the previous chapter, I went to my parents and while heading towards their street I saw the oddest thing. Over here in The Netherlands, when someone has a baby, they often put a sign up with the name they have given their child and guess what the name was?

"Mara". I was pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, something I want to share with you.. I finally found a job and will be working 4 days out of the week; this may indicate fewer updates. Look, I want nothing more than to write all day but unfortunately it isn't financially feasible, but I will continue this story.

I am so excited for the switch to present time in Chapter 18.. I think I am going to end things at Chapter 25 so we will have a while to go. Warning: things will get bumpy and awkward before.. a ... (well I am not going to spoil hehe.)

See you at the next one!

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Gone were her things. Gone. She didn't understand... Where had they gone? She had come back from a walk on the beach and wanted to freshen up in her room and put on a new dress since it had got wet. A shock of surprise went through her when she saw that the cupboard was empty... Slightly panicking, she started to look in the other one and yes... there was nothing left. At that moment, panic really set in, and she knew that there was only one person in the castle who would know more about this...

Without knocking, she rushed into the drawing room where Draco, Theo and Dante were enjoying a cigar and a whiskey. She looked at him and somewhere she could see a soft expression in his eyes but then his face hardened completely.

"Draco... "she said out of breath. "My...my things...they're gone. "

At that moment Theo and Dante seemed better off leaving and they too seemed serious and not at all their normal selves she saw. They barely acknowledged Mara but did exchange a smile when they were out of her line of sight.

"I know " said Draco stoically.

"But where did they go?" asked Mara, now completely panicked.

"They've been removed and stored somewhere else" replied Draco sternly.

"Why? What happened? We haven't argued. I don't know what I did wrong" she exclaimed.

It was true what Mara claimed. They didn't fight; on the contrary, they got to know each other better, no, better said, Mara got to know the 'real' Draco. He was quite different from what she had imagined; for instance, first he was quite funny and liked to tease her, like the other day. Mara was playing the piano and Draco still liked to ruin her playing by hitting various keys to her annoyance, in the middle of the piece...

She had a certain weird habit, and he knew about it... that when she was interrupted, she had to start playing from the beginning. It was a weird tic she had she could not change for some reason, and he liked to tease her repeatedly for it. One day Mara had almost finished the rather intense musical piece when Draco stepped in.

"Draco! No! Don't! I swear I'll- " she said but it was too late because before she could prevent it, he had done it again and pressed the keys, disturbing her playing.

"You... YOU... Come here!" she said slightly angrily and made a move to grab him, whereupon Draco laughed and started to run away but he was fast, and she couldn't keep up, so she lost him out of her sight.

Also, to her chagrin, she realized a few minutes later that she had run into a corridor with a dead end. Mara had not been in this part of the castle very often, so it was no surprise that she had lost directions, but it was dumb, nonetheless. She was just about to scold herself and go on her way back when she saw him, and Mara's heart immediately began to beat faster.