The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Lollies and Loki- CH8

CHAPTER EIGHT

In almost the worst of ironies, as he'd later reflect, when little Hermione's terrified prayer came through Gabriel had been in the process of drowning someone.

A CEO of some business or other had taken the cheap way out when disposing of chemical waste, dumping it in a river where it had ended up poisoning a number of people. There had been three fatalities, two of them very young children and one a woman in her early nineties but the CEO hid behind an army of lawyers, and ended up getting away scot-free. Gabriel had been less then impressed and had conjured up a very large vat of the same chemical waste to the one the company had dumped which he'd then dropped the CEO into.

The man was floundering around in a terribly amusing manner and Gabriel had conjured himself up a whipped cream sundae to enjoy while he watched when Hermione's frantic prayer practically crashed into his head. It was the scream of a terrified child– a terrified child afraid for her life and desperately crying out for help.

Gabriel forgot the CEO completely as he used her prayer to transport himself instantly to her side. She was drifting underwater, unconscious and unmoving, with another child a few feet away from her. She was bleeding openly from her shoulder where something with hooked claws had torn into her– the boy had similar wounds, except in his case it looked like he'd been dragged.

Their attacker wasn't hard to find– the young selkie was screaming its pain, thrashing in the water around ten yards away. The reason for its distress was abundantly clear as Gabriel got a glimpse of its face– small fingers had been jammed into its eye-sockets, gouging into the vulnerable organs. Despite the overwhelming fury Gabriel was experiencing, there was also a good deal of pride– for he had no doubt she was the one responsible. His little disciple had defended herself well.

Clicking his fingers, Gabriel transported both the children and himself out of the water. Another click ensured the selkie wasn't going anywhere– he'd deal with it later– and he took a moment to transport the rest of the children out of the water, sending them all to sleep so he didn't have to listen to all the hysterical screaming (hey, he'd never claimed to be nice. Or patient).

He'd wipe their memories before he left, but his immediate priority was healing Hermione. Vanishing all the water from her lungs and that of the boy's, he was relieved to find both children still had a pulse. They were weak and flickering things, but it meant their hearts were still beating and kick-starting their lungs was an easy thing to do.

Using grace to heal the claw marks, Gabriel rested a hand on both their foreheads and concentrated. Human minds were delicate, extremely so, and while surface thoughts were easy to read and dream walking was simple enough, viewing and manipulating memories was much harder– for most angels it was easier and safer to just make humans forget, to wipe the memory from their minds completely, but Gabriel wasn't just any old angel; he was an archangel.

Pride filled him as he witnessed Hermione's actions, her bravery and determination and the sheer strength of her resolve to save her cousin. She'd been smart about it too, going straight for the eyes and not even hesitating. She'd also ignored the fact the selkie wasn't human, despite clearly having no idea what it was, just accepting it was real and reacting to help the boy– Angus Lachlan Macleod, her cousin.

Tweaking Angus's memory was delicate work but still simple enough– he changed the boy's recollection of the events to being caught in a current and dragged away from the others. Because Gabriel was proud of Hermione, proud of her actions and not wanting to take away the praise she had earned for her bravery and quick-thinking, he kept it so she'd saved the boy, spotting the danger before the others and helping pull him back to safety.