Awrite lads and ladettes?

If any of you like Harry Potter (which if you don't you bloody well should) and fancy reading a fanfic about Snape's daughter head over to h t t p: / / wattpad .com/user/SleepySeverus (take out spaces where appropriate) My friend Sam's got a good one going and she's low on readers, so check that out if you like. If you don't that's cool obviously, I know it's quite an effort seeing as it's not even on this site and this one is CLEARLY superior.

Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Please leave a wee review at the end. Lots of love to you all just for reading it :)

Gibbs saw his mistake and started to panic, thrashing around in the water. I did the opposite. I stopped moving completely, waiting for one of the mermaids to grab me and all the time keeping my eyes trained on the rapidly descending box. I was snatched almost immediately and dragged down at an incredible rate. Gibbs tried to save me, not understanding what I was doing but I pulled free of him. I struggled from the mermaid only in order to move closer to the direction the box had fallen in. The water around me was getting darker and darker the further down I sank. I doubted I could make it back up to the surface, it was so far away. But I could still save everyone else. I saw the box in the gloom. It was floating down slower than I was being dragged. I knew I only had one chance at this.

I reached out and snatched the box.

The water really slowed my movements. I was getting weak. The mermaid's grip on my ankle tightened as I slipped my nails into the opening. I pulled with all the strength that was in me. A bright white light sprang out of it, emanating from a liquid which began to surround us. It was brighter than anything I'd ever seen and as it touched my skin it felt so warm. I felt so happy that all the pain my bursting lungs were going through didn't matter anymore. I smiled. The light touched the mermaid and she disintegrated before my eyes. The light touched her skin; it flaked away and was swallowed by the light. Her face twisted in an ugly kind of anger but then that too was swallowed by the light, leaving only dark holes where her eyes and mouth used to be. They lingered on for a second before the light closed around them.

It was spreading rapidly now, freeing my friends. I stayed floating there, clutching the box. I felt weak but peaceful. Like my soul and body were no longer connected. The light was warm. It was my friend. But then it faded and the feeling of fear returned, ebbing back into my body and filling it with ice and adrenaline. I looked up. The surface was so far away. I started swimming up. My legs were so heavy it was almost impossible. A dark shape blocked my view of the surface.

Jack.

I reached up to him. He grabbed both of my arms and pulled me up. I was still clutching the box in one hand, kicking as hard as I could. He got me to the surface just in time and held me as I caught my breath. We shivered and swam to the side. For a few moments everyone just lay recovering. I sat up and looked around. It seemed like everyone had made it. Jack pulled me towards him.

"Belle…" he was out of breath. "You… brave, brave… stupid girl."

He wrapped his arms around me and rocked me back and forth. I felt myself get warmer in his arms. I hugged as much of him as I could. "Less of the stupid… I saved you're life." I pretended to sold him, smiling as he kissed my cheek. I rested against him. He leant his head on me as we caught our breath. Gibbs was the first to stand up, he was looking around. He looked nervous.

"Cap'n… we should get moving. Blackbeard won't be far behind us." Jack jumped up. He clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Right you lot, let's get moving, we've no idea what's ahead of us."

He looked excited about this prospect. A feeling we definitely did not share. We were all tired from the fight but we had to keep moving. Blackbeard could be bearing down on us so there was no time to rest. I needed sleep, but I pushed myself to stand on my feet. The only way for us to go was through a large archway in the wall. Our progress was slow and reluctant, as we were unsure of what lay before us. Through the archway we were met with four choices. High hedges rose up and up towards the sky. So far up that I couldn't even see where they stopped. There were four openings for us to choose from. We all stopped and took it in. I looked down each different pathway, but there was nothing to indicate which one was the right one. Gibbs moaned. I looked at him and saw his face redden. "Now what the hell is this?"

His sudden outburst had clearly been pent up for some time. "Gibbs…" I said as soothingly as I could. "It's alright-"

"Alright?" he mimicked. "ALRIGHT? How can you say any of this is alright?"

"It's alright," I repeated. He'd started pacing. I'd never really seen him this angry before. You could usually depend on him to be more level-headed than the rest. "Just calm down and we'll-"

"WHAT?" he roared. "What will we do? What's your plan then? EH? Come on, let's hear it!"

Jack stepped towards him. "That will do, Master Gibbs." His voice was quiet, icy and scarily calm. Gibbs, however, wasn't quite finished yet. He rounded on Jack.

"Let's hear your plan then. How's the marvellous Captain Jack Sparrow going to weasel us out of this one then, eh?"

"MASTER GIBBS!" Jack bellowed, but Gibbs didn't even flinch. He raised his voice to match Jack's.

"WHAT? Don't stand there and pretend that you have everything under control when we all know you don't. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You're risking us all in you quest for immortality. Are we all to die so you can live forever?" Jack and Gibbs were closing in on each other. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if they came to blows. I took a wary step closer to Jack. Then I saw Gibbs properly. He was different. There was something about his eyes. They were darker. Almost black. And it wasn't just his pupils it was the entire eye socket that had turned a gleaming black. Ragetti stepped out of nowhere and knocked Gibbs to the ground with the handle of his pistol. Without pausing he rolled him over and chanted something that wasn't English. Gibbs's black eyes opened wide and his body twitched. Ragetti trembled as he finished his incantation. He stepped back. We did the same, unsure of what was going on. Gibbs's eyes shut again.

There was a moment where nothing happened.

Then his whole body convulsed and his mouth shot open. A massive dark could of black smoke poured out. In one quick move it shot to rest between the second and third openings we had been arguing over. I looked back to Gibbs. He was pale and shaking as he clambered to his feet. The dark mass had taken shape. It was almost dog-like. I had fur and a tail and paws but it was so much bigger. And its ears were much larger, pointed upwards. It sat down and observed us with intelligent eyes.

"Hello," it said in a voice I did not expect and with a smile I definitely did not like.