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| Virtual Hogwarts .net > Third Floor corridor > Darwin Manor - The Countryside |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 27 2003, 11:22 PM |
| ‘Two days. Two whole days.’ Seb said to himself. He was in his bedroom lying on his bed, plucking up the fabric on his bedspread. He had been so used to the noise and ruckus in the Slytherin Common Room, that the silence of his own wing was almost deafening. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the House Elf shuffling around, and outside the birds were singing. ‘Two. Days.’ With a bored sigh he looked around his well-sized room. All four walls were a cream shade of paint, his carpet was cream, his curtains were also cream, but had a gold trim to them and his bedspread was matching to his curtains. Opposite to his bed stood his writing desk, school books neatly sitting in the middle – untouched; quill, ink and parchment lying next to them. Immaculate. Something any other teenage boys bedroom wouldn’t be, but Seb couldn’t stand mess. Standing up, Seb opened his window to let in some fresh air. He had been in his room now for the last three hours, starring at the high ceiling, or at his broom, or just into space. ‘Rebecca,’ The new addition to the family. Rebecca Rose Darwin. When Seb had first made his way home after his train ride from Hogwarts and entered the house, the first thing he saw were his two patents cooing over the newborn in her little cradle. “Sebastian,” His father said without a mere attempt at a greeting, “This is Rebecca Rose, your … sister.” He spoke, somewhat regretfully. Seb nodded his head. “Is she healthy then?” He asked them. His mother nodded her head before finally speaking. “Yes. Dinner will be at 6.” Seb took that as the end of their ‘conversation’, and headed up the main stairs to his own wing, House Elf behind him levitating his trunk. Apart from family meal times (once a day, dinner only) that was the only time he’d talked to them. So here he was, in his room muttering about only two days passing. Cien hadn’t visited yet, and he’d had no owl off anyone from school. Not that he’d expected any, but… That didn’t shock him that much. A knock on his door ripped him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see his House Elf standing in the doorway. “Sir sir, you has muggle mail, sir,” he spoke, holding out a letter. Seb took the letter off him and dismissed his elf. He sat down on the bed and began to read. |
| Posted by: Sariss Aug 27 2003, 11:23 PM | ||
Sariss's letter:
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| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 27 2003, 11:24 PM |
| Grinning, he walked to his desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write his reply. Sariss- Thanks for your letter! Broke the boredom! No, Cien hasn’t arrived yet. I expect she’s having too much fun with the Banges. Don’t blame her though. Anywhere would be better than here. Oh, talking of here, I found out the name of the new addition to the family. Rebecca Rose. Haven’t really had a good look at her yet though, they are always around her cradle, cooing and stuff like that; quite sickening actually. It’s a side of them I’ve never seen before. GAG! So, they like your brooms huh? Just make sure them muggle’s don’t sweep with it! I never did tell my parents I was on the team. I’m sure they realised when they saw my broom. Anyway, to your worries. Naturally I would tell you if something happened in the wizarding world! Goes without saying. Actually. I can take out a subscription for you, and you can pay me back when we’re back at school. That is, … No I shan’t write that. May jinx it. Though I do miss the big old place, and after two days only I miss your reminding me to do work, Cien reminding me to eat, and the Professors reminding me to stay awake in class!! You should come stay for the last two weeks of holidays or something! I know you said you didn’t want to, but you can think of it as a holiday in the wizarding world! Plus, the more company I get, the merrier! This wing is too big for me alone. I’m sure Cien will be here soon, so that’ll fill some space! I’ll send this with my fathers owl. Just make sure you don’t have any biscuits around, he likes them! Send a reply with it too! Seb PS: Postman obviously got the letter delivered ok! He stood up and headed off to send the letter. |
| Posted by: Sariss Aug 28 2003, 12:05 AM | ||
| Sariss woke up to the sound of an owl scratching at her window. She jumped out of bed, almost strangling herself with her braid and nearly stumbled over the bedsheet that had wrapped itself around her as if she were a mummy and the sheets were the bandages. Cursing softly under her breath, she opened the window and allowed the bird in. Post from the wizarding world. This was so cool. Sariss grinned and goggled when the owl landed on the desk and began to peck at the biscuits that were left from her midnight snack. “Well, as I don’t have any owl treats… Help yourself,” she laughed and went to remove the letter from the owl’s leg. It was from Seb. Sariss sat down, opened the envelope and read, while the owl happily devoured the biscuits… After a few minutes, she’d finished reading and ran downstairs to ask her ‘parents’ if they would allow her to spend some time with her best friend from school. They agreed without much arguing—especially when they heard that she was not to be the only girl there. Grinning from ear to ear, she all but bounced back into her room and began to scribble a reply.
Sariss tied the letter to the owl’s leg, received a small grateful nibble on her finger, as if the owl meant to say ‘thank you for the biscuits,’ and watched the bird disappear on the horizon. She couldn’t wait to be at Seb’s. It was still a couple of weeks until she’d go there and they seemed like ages to her. |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 28 2003, 12:19 AM |
| Cien landed with a slight thump in the fire at Darwin Manor and climbed out, dusting her red-black robes off. She looked around the room she was in with barely concealed suprised, it was massive, and very nice. She reached a hand up to push her hood down and did so, revealing her jet-black glossy hair. She couldn't hide the smile on her face as she glanced around again. She was finally here, to spend the next however many weeks with Seb. Fun stuff. |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 28 2003, 12:32 AM |
| Mr and Mrs Darwin were sat at the table, new child in Mrs Darwins arms. After hearing the unmistakable sound of floo, Mr Darwin pushed his brown hair out of his eyes, stood up and made his way over to where a young girl stood. He looked back towards his wife, raised his eyebrows then turned back to the girl. "You must be Sebastian's friend. Pleasure," He greeted, shaking her hand before calling for his house elf. "Bally, fetch Sebastian. Inform him his visitor has arrived." Cole Darwin told the house elf, as he bowed to his Master. "And tell him to not take all day." He snapped. By now Mrs Darwin had walked over to the fireplace, "Kasia Darwin," She said, nodding her head politely. Before she had even asked her how she was, Seb ran into the room, almost skidding to a halt at the door. He grinned as he saw Cien stood there, cloak full of ash from the fire. "Cieny!" He said as he walked to her, under the eagle eyes of his parents, "Glad you could make it! How is Mr. Banges? I see you've met my, uh, parents." Kasia shot a look to her husband, before opening her mouth. "No doubt you would like to freshen up?" She asked Cien. "Sebastian." She said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Yes mother." He stood at the door, waiting for Cien to follow him so he could show her to one of the many bathrooms. |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 28 2003, 12:51 AM |
| Cien's grin widened as Seb walked into the room and wanted to hug and kiss him there and then, but noticing his parents stern looks' decided not to. Little baby Rebecca was, well there was no other way to put it; cute. As far as babies went this little kid was really pretty, and Cien just wanted to pick her up and squeeze her, she loved little babies. When they weren't crying. "Thankyou for letting me stay, Mr and Mrs. Darwin. I'll try and stay out of your way as much as possible." She gave a very small bow, before following Seb out into the hall of his Manor. Once outside she immediately hugged him, "Missed you." When she pulled back she held his right hand in her left and allowed him to lead her in the direction of one of the bathrooms. Sebs house was huge and Cien had the feeling that she would most probably get lost at least six times during her stay, oh well, she'd already got lost at Banges' Mansion about six billion times already. It was wonderfully furnished, and had a kind of splendour that many people never managed to pull off without looking tacky or fake. Cien was amazed by some of the pictures they passed while walking, they showed all kinds of things, a lot of the pictures back 'home' were still ones. Muggle ones, and they scared Cien slightly, having always been around moving pictures. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a wonderful House, Seb." She remarked as they came to a halt outside what she guessed must be a bathroom. "Won't be a sec." The bathroom was exactly like the halls they had just walked through and she cleaned herself off pretty quickly, before stepping back out to see Seb. "So, what's next on my grand tour of your humble abode?" |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 28 2003, 01:07 AM |
| "My wing," He said, as he led them along to the main stairs. "I'm sure you'll like it. My parents don't visit here," He said, as they climbed stairs. "So you can basically relax." Eventhough he had told her to relax, he himself couldn't. He felt all tensed up from the meeting with his parents, and he knew he had to just 'grin' and bare it. They turned off the stairs and walked through a passage. "Here we are," he said, pointing. He opened the closest door on his left. "This here is your bathroom," He walked to the next door, "Your bedroom, oh, if you leave your trunk there, the House Elf will resize it. This here is my lounge area with balcony," He said, as he opened the next door, "And this is my room." He stopped and opened the door to show Cien his decent sized creme and gold coloured room. "Make yourself at home!" He said as he walked in. He threw himself on his bed and looked over to Cien, who was looking around his room at various objects he had. "How was everything at Banges?" |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 28 2003, 01:20 AM |
| "Very strange. He has non-moving pictures you know?" Cien asked, and moved to sit on the floor next to his bed, crossing her legs and gazing up at him. "And it's big. I got lost a lot." She pulled a face as she remembered the annoying picture that had given her directions to a dead end, a long way from where she was meant to be. She decided not to tell him about the Death Eater thing, he had most probably heard about them managing to escape by way of paper anyway. "Oh!" She rooted around in her cloak pocket and pulled a small spherical shape out. "It's a galaxy in a glass ball. I wanted to get you something, but I wasn't sure just what. Hope you like it." She placed the glass ball on his bed and moved back into her sitting position, looking around the room. "You have a nice room." She said simply, smiling and turning her head on the side. She'd missed being able to talk to him like this over the holidays, it had been a kind of permanent ache. "You know, I've missed you a lot." She finally said, looking back at him and blushing ever-so-slightly. |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 29 2003, 01:13 AM | ||
| Seb took the gift into his hands and brought it up to his face for a closer look. After a moment or two he replied. "Yeah, we missed each other. You have been busy recently at school, so I've just been flitting about here and there." He stood up and placed his galaxy next to his photo of his Granma, which was placed on his desk. He knew he was putting off the inevitable, but sooner or later he would have to visit her resting place. He hadn't been happy since the moment he'd stept foot into his house, and seeing all the old memories of his past didn't help one bit. Seb seated himself on his desk chair and looked down to Cien. "You know," He started, breaking the silence, "When I was little I used to love visiting Granma. Her home was small, just how she liked it. I dunno, this place seems to large, open and lonely, but her place was, you know, comfortable!" He picked up the galaxy in a glass once more. "She used to tell me stories about the stars when I was younger, though I would always fall asleep before the end, snuggling up to her with my blankie." Seb gave a small smile. "Jasmine. She always smelt of Jasmine." Sebs eyes wandered over to where his blankie lay on his bed, to the window where his fathers owl sat, listening contently. Seb noticed the letter attached to his leg, went over and releaved it of it's mail. "Oh, it's off Sariss!" Seb said excitedly, "I invited her for the last few weeks, a holiday in the wizarding world." He explained as he read the letter.
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| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 29 2003, 01:21 AM |
| "Oh.." Cien felt bad when Seb told her about how he had missed his gran, she seemed like such a nice person. It was a shame she was dead, Cien would have liked to have met her. He seemed to be sad and Cien wanted to reach out and kiss him but new that she'd be better off letting him talk about his gran. "I'm so sorry I guess..." There wasn't much else to say and she felt bad, that she couldn't say or do anything to make him happy again but something else made him happy. A letter came from Sariss. Cien was quiet as she watched him read it, and tell her that Sariss would be spending the last two weeks here at Darwin Manor with them. He sounded so happy. She brushed some hair behind her ears and smiled at him. "Cool, sounds fun." She idily drew a pattern on the floor with her finger. "I haven't seen her in a while either. It'll be nice to see her again." |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 29 2003, 01:38 AM |
| "I haven't seen her in a while either. It'll be nice to see her again." Seb heard Cien say half heartedly. "Yup, I know that." he answered her, placing the letter down with the other one he had recieved by muggle mail. "I'll reply to that later. I'm sure Fathers owl would like some rest. So, what do you want to do?" He asked her. "I have almost a whole house and garden at your disposal. Though we do have to have lunch with them at 12pm." Seb added, looking at the clock on his wall. "Won't that be fun." A sudden scuttling sound brought his attention to his broom in the corner. "A-ha, that's where Tua has got to." He claimed, as he saw Tua sitting across his broomstick. "As soon as we came home, he's been off exploring the place. I was worried he had got lost somewhere!" Hmm. That's a thought. Maybe I should've told THEM I had a pet Tuatara? Yeah well, shoulda woulda coulda done a lot of things. |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 29 2003, 01:47 AM |
| "Hmm..." Cien looked thoughtful. She'd like to see more of Darwin Manor but knew that it would probably bore Seb to death to take her on a guided tour. She'd go later maybe, if she couldn't sleep. And get lost. ...Good point. "A garden? Pearl didn't have a garden at her house. There was a lake about ten minutes but I rarely got time to go and see it." Cien frowned. "I don't know if Mr. Banges has a garden." She pushed herself into a standing position and watched as Seb went to pick Tua up from where he had scuttled off. "Adventurous isn't he?" She grinned. "Want to go out to the gardens then? Or is there an amazing room you're not telling me about?" |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 29 2003, 02:01 AM |
| "Amazing room?" He repeated, as he placed Tua back down, there is a big library near the dining room, um, family gallery room. I don't know what you could class as amazing. Mother has a study up on the third floor, and a resouce room, there is my old nursery up there too. Fathers workshop is under the house, their bedroom is in their wing." Seb informed Cien, pointing to his left. "And our two house elves live near Fathers workshop too." He opened the door for Cien, and they began to walk along his coridoor. "Now, the garden. We have a few ponds if you want to go see some frogs, or something," He shrugged. "I guess the swans may be there, not really checked. Apart from that there is just grass, plants, some trees and wildlife. Takes about 45 minutes to walk around it..." He trailed off, suddenly realising how snobby and spoilt he sounded. |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 29 2003, 02:18 AM |
| "Swans?" Cien sounded excited. "I love swans! I like white things, like roses. Swans and Roses. My favourite flowers and birds." She realised she was rambling and stopped herself. They were going through another long hallway with interesting moving pictures. "Your house is so big... don't you ever get lost?" She glanced around as she spoke, looking at all the different hallways that branched off, and doorways into other rooms. Too busy looking around she didn't notice Seb opening the door to the garden and stopped dead staring. It was amazing, acres of green grass in perfect condition, flowers (and to Ciens delight white roses) tall trees, and small bushes. She couldn't see any ponds in the direction they were looking and reached a hand up to shield her eyes against the glare of the sun. It was brilliant, and deffinately hadn't come cheap. "..wow..." |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 31 2003, 12:06 AM |
| It was a few days after Seb had gave Cien the grand tour of his house and garden, and the two were on the balcony off Seb's lounge on the second floor. Cien was stood at the railings looking out over the garden and Seb was sat at the table, writing his reply to Sari. Sariss- Sorry it took so long for my reply!! Cien arrived just before your last letter did, and I've been giving her the tour of the Manor, and the surounding garden. I think she approves! The first day we all had dinner together was quite painful. They seemed to enjoy blanking me, and asking Cien how her schooling was going. When she mentioned me the air got tense. But Cien and I lived to tell the tale! I assume you've been getting your Daily Prophet ok? I know you live in a muggle town so I hope the muggle neighbours haven't been wondering why you're getting different owls each morning! Well if they do, who cares?! So it's ok for you to come? Great!! I'll pick you up from my local train station, if that's ok with you? You should know to which station, you did send me muggle mail to me with my address on, after all. Just bring something for that hayfever of yours, because I live in the Countryside! Cien and I can't wait for your visit! Love and hugs, -Seb and Cien Seb scrolled up the parchment and stood next to Cien to call his fathers biscuit loving owl. After sending it away he turned to Cien. "What do you want to do? This place is boring you, isn't it? Oh I knew this would happen," He frowned as he began to pull at the bottom of his t-shirt. |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 12:25 AM |
| "Seb," Cien moved away from the railings and sat at the table where Seb was. "These have been the best few days of my entire holiday." She reached a hand out to stop him plucking at the bottom of his T-shirt. "Trust me." She looked at him sternly to prove she wasn't lying then grinned and pulled him into a hug. "After all, I spent them with you." Some memories flashed through her mind of things they had done and Cien smiled, turning her head slightly to the side. One night they had stayed up impossibly late under Seb's bed covers by candle light (non-flammable of course) only to have been late to breakfast the next morning, earning them some "interesting" looks to say the least. Seb had taken her on a full tour of the garden and the grounds, much to Ciens delight. Then they had got their brooms and had a little practice throwing things back and forth for Quidditch, well, Cien had had to persuade Seb very hard to get him to do that. They had gone down into the town, stayed in his room, played with Tua, gone swimming, dined with family, climbed onto the roof, allsorts. And in all honesty Cien had enjoyed it. "It's been too fun, I don't want to go back." |
| Posted by: Sariss Aug 31 2003, 12:43 AM | ||
(ooc: The date is 2 weeks before 1st September, and I have no idea if there’s really a train to arrive at 3:15pm at wherever Seb’s house is LOL) |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 01:02 AM |
| A few hours later Cien was lying on her front on Seb's bed while he got washed and changed in the bathroom for the dinner-with-the-parents tonight. A small owl flew in and dropped a letter down near Cien's head on the bed. She reached out to pick it up while turning her head and calling out to Seb: "You've got a reply from Sar! Want me to read it?" "Ok." Came the reply before a tap turned on and the sound of rushing water was heard. She read the letter aloud with her own running commentary in-between as Seb continued to stay in the bathroom. "Strange looks off the neighbours because of owls? I'm thinking they're muggles... 'just smile and nod' that comes in handy in the common room... ooh.. I fall asleep on trains sometimes too... she's travelling by herself?" Placing the letter down after finishing Cien turned over onto her back and stared at the ceiling of the room, her black hair fanning out underneath her on the blanket. "You ready yet?" |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 31 2003, 01:20 AM |
| Seb left his bathroom, adjusting his shirt. "Yeah, she's traveling on the train by herself. We'll meet her at the station. Well, let's get this over with." he said, as he walked towards the door. Five minutes later, they were all seated around the table in the Dining room. "-So then I said I wanted a Nanny, not a guide to babies and how to care for them," Kasia said over to her husband, her dark green eyes twinkling as she began to laugh harshly. "I highly doubt we'll be able to find a suitable one before I return to work." Seb's father nodded, "I know what you mean. We can only pray we find someone suitable soon, then at least we would have a decent child with a proper upbringing." He reached over for his goblet. Seb silently tutted at his fathers comment and continued to eat, before giving Cien a look. Thats right, tell me I was brought up bad. After all you two couldn't do it. Thats why my Granma rescued me. "So, Cien," Cole said after taking a sip of his drink, "Do you have any plans on what you want to do once you leave Hogwarts?" |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 01:30 AM |
| "Well, my obvious answer at the moment would be professional Quidditch." Cien answered Seb's father shrugging ever-so-slightly. "I'm hoping to be Slytherin teams captain next year." She ate some food slowly, thinking over the question fully. She swallowed and spoke up; "I guess it depends on how well I do in my classes, what my strengths are. At the moment they seem to be in Herbology and History of Magic. I got an A+ in both." Not really having thought much about the question before Cien didn't talk for a while, she was still a first year until September the first. It didn't cross her mind much to think of what she'd be doing when she'd left. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you want to do when you left school?" She asked, pushing some hair behind her ears. |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 31 2003, 01:43 AM |
| "I didn't want to settle straight into a job," Cole said, cutting up a piece of meat. "I tried out different things, seen what took my interest." "What he means," Kasia interupted as she raised an eyebrow, "Is that he was too lazy to get a job, and always got sacked from the ones he DID get." Seb looked at Cien. "I don't know what I'll do when I leave. Too early to say." "... Yes." His mother said in a bored tone after Seb spoke, "You want to be Quidditch Captain?" She asked Cien. "Cole is working on a new broom at the moment, aren't you dear? Upgrade on a Thunder-whatsit..." Kasia trailed off, shrugging. "A Thunder Jet 360." Cole spoke up, "It can do a 360 turn while still flying, without losing it's speed. Well, it will do that eventually, once I'm finished with it." |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 01:54 AM |
| Cien frowned as Kasia spoke in a bored tone after Seb had spoken. This is normal for him... She fought off the idea of saying something. "A 360 turn? Impressive.. I'm guessing it will be as smooth as the firebolt?" She asked, reaching for her goblet and shooting Seb a small smile, there wasn't much else she could do. "I'm sure Seb will do well in his tests too," She said after talking a sip of her drink and placing the goblet back down. "We're about the same in our classes and homework." But Sariss is waaaaaaay ahead.. She looked at Seb, wondering if he was thinking the same thing and grinned. "I don't know, I love Quidditch a lot at the moment, but it can be frustrating at times. Like everything really." |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 31 2003, 02:12 AM |
| The meal passed without any major disruptions and an hour later, Seb and Cien found themselves back in Seb's wing. "If I write Sariss a quick reply now, I'll have an House Elf take it to the owl later. Fathers owl will most probably be out hunting. "Sariss Yup, quite a large garden. Cien seems to love the garden! Though, not too sure if you would like it! Where there is wildlife, there are creepy crawlies! We all know you hate them! I'm guessing you live in a city or a town? You may find the silence here deafening! We don't get a lot of traffic pass through, and the house is so big and empty of people. Including the house elves and baby there are 7 of us here. Not really that much, considering the size. 18th, 3.15pm? We'll be there, waiting! We can get a muggle taxi thing. I trust you know how to use them? Personally, I don't have a clue. I've saw them though, in the village the town over. Anyway, Cien and I have just came back from Dinner with the parents. I tell ya, you'll love it! They're really nice - to guests! I shouldn't complain. I got more than three words out of them tonight but they seem to like Cien!! Well I should stop writing now. Getting tired, and my attention span is wandering. Cien and I miss you! -Seb and Cien" "Hey, Cien?" Seb asked, as he folded up the parchment, "Do you want to camp outside tonight? It's warm enough, and Mother has a proper up-to-date tent! Including a full bathroom, and a huge kitchen!" |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 02:23 AM |
| "Camp outside?" Cien asked, carefully stepping out onto the balcony and spinning around in the warm night air. She closed her eyes and opened her arms wide. "It's perfect for camping." She admitted, dropping her arms to her side and opening her eyes. Slowly, she walked back into the lounge from the balcony and smiled at him. "Full of great ideas aren't you?" She walked into her room and quickly got together a smallish bag of things she'd need for the night and walked into the lounge again, dropping the bag to her feet and re-checking it. "Will your parents let us?" Questioned Cien, finally closing her bag up and sitting down for a second. "Or will they not care really, so long as we're safe?" |
| Posted by: Seb_Darwin Aug 31 2003, 02:45 AM |
| "Thats a trick question, right?" Seb asked, as a house elf stood behind him, tent at his feet. "They don't care. The grounds are safe, so they have no NEED to care." Seb walked to the house elf. "Since 'she' was born, they've stepped up on the jinx and protective curses on the place. We'll be fine." |
| Posted by: Cien Mashuga Aug 31 2003, 02:50 AM |
| "Ah.." Cien winced, she couldn't have asked a stupider question. She fiddled with the straps on her bag before pulling it up onto her shoulder. Seb was on his way to pick up the tent from a House Elf which had appeared in the room and Cien turned to look outside, it was getting really dark now and quite a few stars were appearing. "Need some help..?" She gestured toward the tent. |
| Posted by: Sariss Aug 31 2003, 02:50 AM | ||
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