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Gabrielle had her wand aimed squarely at the back of Snape's head. When she'd heard voices coming from the woods, she'd crawled quietly back towards the trees and walked closer to see who it was. And thank God she had!
Sophie was here, and so was Julien by the sound of things... and that madman, that sick evil Potions master who had given her the shivers ever since her first childhood visit to Hogwarts all those years ago, he stood there threatening their lives! How dare he! How dare he kidnap and threaten her children!
Of course he'd brought them as prisoners to worm his way back into the Dark Circle in good favor. If he'll stoop to that, he's capable of anything, she reminded herself. I have to be very careful. She watched as Sophie emerged tentatively from behind the Professor's creepy figure... "Mama," she began.
Gabrielle cut her off. "Come here, Sophie," she repeated quietly. "It's all right, ma petite, I'm covering him. If he touches you or even moves, I'll kill him. Do you hear that, you despicable monster?" she addressed Snape sharply.
Without moving or turning around, he answered in an angry whisper, "You don't understand anything. Now be quiet! If you make any noise, the Circle will hear you!"
"Oh, don't worry," she responded with a harsh laugh. "I can kill you without making any noise at all."
"That's not the-" Snape began, and when he cut himself off with a quick motion, Gabrielle was caught off guard. He whirled around, grabbed Sophie, and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the shriek he knew was coming. "-point," he finished.
Immediately, Gabrielle saw how thoroughly he'd reversed the situation. As long as he held Sophie as a hostage in front of him, he could do whatever he wanted. Gabrielle tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, muttering involuntarily, "How dare you threaten my baby..."
"I threaten her?" Snape asked, sounding a lot more confident now. "Madam, you are the one pointing a wand at her head!"
Gabrielle saw the truth in this at once and lowered her wand. Of course Sophie mustn't get hit with a curse accidentally... She took a small, nonthreatening step forward and asked quietly, "All right. What do you want?"
That's better, Snape decided. Now the woman is talking sense. "What I want is first to remove ourselves from this dangerous location. Go deeper into the woods so we won't be overheard. Sophie and I will follow."
Gabrielle did as he said, and he pushed Sophie ahead of him, hissing "Don't make noise and don't run away," in her ear. Once they were out of earshot of the Circle, Gabrielle turned to face him.
"If you're so worried about hiding from the Dark Circle, why have you brought them my children as captives?" she demanded.
"I haven't-" he began, but Sophie interrupted him.
"Let me tell it, Professor, please!" she begged. Snape almost refused, but then decided it was probably hazardous to keep such a noisy child quiet for so long. She might explode soon. He nodded his assent, and Sophie launched into a brief explanation of why she and Julien had been brought here. When she finished, Gabrielle turned to Snape.
"I'll get you for involving my children in this madness," she spat threateningly. "Don't think you're getting away with it. If we both survive this night, I'm coming after you. I mean that."
"I'm sure you do, Madam," he answered silkily, then allowed a warning note to creep into his voice. "However, I must warn you that I'm probably more than a match for you under any circumstances - be the stakes ever so high - so I'd advise you not to carry a grudge too far. It may help you to bury the hatchet," he added maliciously, "to know that this was all your husband's idea. His fault entirely. If I were you, I would resume this argument with him...at a later date." He looked around. "Right now, we'd better get back to your son, before he does something stupid as is his wont."
They turned to go back to where Julien was hidden. As they went, they talked in low whispers about Harry's secret identity. "He hasn't exactly got nerves of steel, but I suppose he's managing," said Gabrielle.
"He's doing a terrible job, and would have been killed fifty times over if he were a shade less lucky," Snape argued spitefully.
"Yes, his luck is quite something... I know if I had tried this stunt, I'd have been found out within five minu-" she broke off suddenly when Snape gestured for her silence. They were fast approaching the clearing where the Dark Circle was, and were now within sight. They moved along slowly, making absolutely no noise... that is, until...
CRACK!
Gabrielle had stumbled over a large branch, which made a tremendous noise as it broke. Instantly, they all froze. Snape looked at her and saw in horror how brightly her golden hair shone in the moonlight. There was no way the Circle would miss them...
Sure enough, within seconds, heads turned and wands pointed. They were caught.
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A bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry. As usual, I'm going to beg you all for feedback. I figure there are about three or four chapters left after this one... what do you think so far?
Thanks for reading.