Stranded (Harry Potter AU) (Complete)

[Starfox5]

Finally!

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Took them long enough!

So the middle section is throwing me off because I couldn't tell who was voicing which lines.

I was going Harry (first line), Hermione (second line), Harry (third paragraph), Hermione (fourth paragraph)...and then Hermione again?

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Thanks, I fixed that now!

Great update! Hopefully after the next scene (huzzah!) they remember the dogs and bloody scent trail they left on the way to their current location.

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Well... they were a bit distracted.

Great stuff! very believable, working up the tension like that too.
I have absolutely no idea how they're going to save the captive girl tho.

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They don't have any idea either. Not yet.

I mean they'd need a canon level asspull to pull it off. Especially now that they lost their stealth.

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Don't underestimate them

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 22: The Morning After

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 16th, 1996

"This heat is unbearable!" Sirius Black shook his head. "How anyone might wish to live in this country out of their own free will, I will never understand!" The cobblestones under his feet felt as hot as a heating plate. Not that he had ever stood on the latter, and he would forever deny the rumours that he might have jumped on a muggle stove as Padfoot, but he could imagine it.

His two companions didn't respond. He turned to glare at them, but Peter was looking around at all the stalls on the Bazar in Magical Algier as if he expected an ambush to be launched at every moment, and Bill… well, the Curse-Breaker was glaring at something as if he was about to launch an attack.

Now, what would that… Oh. Sirius nodded when he saw Bill's target. The entrance to the slave market. "Filthy business," he muttered.

"The ICW should put a stop to this," Bill replied.

"The ICW couldn't care less," Sirius said. "And all that pressure from other countries has managed is that they don't openly trade their slaves in the Bazar proper any more."

Bill pressed his lips together.

"We're here to meet your contact," Sirius reminded him.

"I know."

"Alright." Starting a fight wouldn't help anyone - three wizards couldn't hope to do anything to an entire town. Unless they were Dumbledore. Or willing to use Fiendfyre. And burning slaves was very much the opposite of saving them.

And even Dumbledore would be challenged here, Sirius thought - the whole Bazar was full of wizards and witches. And magical creatures of all sorts. No wonder Peter looked like he was about to have a heart attack or something, trying to keep an eye on every possible threat.

Well, anyone with a wand was a possible threat. Or, Sirius amended his thoughts as he saw a huge Djinn float by, even those without a wand.

"Enchanted pipes! Enchanted pipes! Buy the pipe of your dreams!"

Sirius ignored the merchant's yells. The man had switched to English as soon as he had spotted them. And they weren't here to shop - they were here to find out which of the pirate gangs had Harry. And who they had to kill to get Harry back. And the girl.

"Flying Carpets! Handwoven by the finest artisans of Persia! Flying Carpets!"

"Banned in Britain," Peter mumbled.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I know. My grandfather voted on the ban." For a bribe, of course - the Blacks hadn't had any interest in broom manufacturers at the time. Not until Sirius had taken over as the head of the family and invested in Nimbus.

"The carpets are quite useful in Egypt," Bill commented.

"Oh? We might need one then, for Harry," Sirius said. He had always wanted a flying carpet as a boy. Mainly because it was illegal, of course.

"I doubt that," Peter said.

"You never know. And it would make a nice conversation piece." Sirius grinned.

"A conversation piece?" Bill asked.

"You know: 'Have you ever made love on a flying carpet?'" Sirius grinned widely at the other two. Peter groaned and pointedly looked at anyone else, but Bill chuckled. "Actually, yes."

Sirius blinked, then grinned.

That meant he most certainly had to buy a flying carpet!

"Sirius…"

He ignored Peter as he walked over to the stall. "Greetings!" he bellowed. "Show me your best carpet!"

"Oh for… Sirius!" Peter hissed. "We've got an appointment!"

"This won't take long!" Sirius whispered back while the merchant summoned a rolled-up carpet. "And it'll help our cover."

"As if you'd care about that."

Sirius grinned and prepared to haggle.

*****​

Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way again, some galleons lighter, but with a fine Persian Flying Carpet.

"That wasn't the best Persian Carpet," Peter complained. "I don't think it was actually Persian, you know. Probably Egyptian."

"So? Who in Britain would know that?" Sirius replied.

His friend sighed. "We're going to be late."

"That'll only help our cover as harmless tourists."

"Basem Kateb will know we aren't harmless tourists as soon as we broach the reason we're here," Bill said.

"But everyone else won't," Sirius defended himself and his purchase.

Peter sighed, which Sirius knew from experience meant that he had won this exchange.

"We're here," Bill said, pointing at a sturdy but not too spacious house ahead of them. He stepped forward and grabbed the doorknocker to announce them.

A voice asked something in what Sirius assumed was Arabian. Bill replied in kind, and the door swung open, revealing a young man bowing his head to them and gesturing at them to step into the house.

Sirius was certain that the wizard - he could see the wand holster in the wide sleeve - understood English even though he hadn't shown a sign of it so far.

He led them through a lavishly decorated entrance hall - his mother would have sneered and yet been impressed - to a courtyard. Through a courtyard. Exotic and magical plants were everywhere. Sirius almost wished he had paid more attention in Herbology - some of that stuff was probably dangerous. And the scent… Padfoot would love it. Probably - some scents humans liked dogs hated. And vice versa. Open to the sky, though Sirius was certain that the whole building was protected by strong wards - no one sane would leave such a vulnerability in their home. Still, it was a possible means of entry.

They quickly passed through the yard, through another open door, and into a hallway with refreshingly cool air. More Arabian, and the man flicked a wand, opening a door.

Sirius resisted the urge to whistle - the salon they were entering looked like it had been taken straight out of one of those muggle movies. Or from the covers of those novels Lily denied she read. Silk, floating cushions, floating carafes… and who had to be Basem Kateb, sitting on a cushion that was floating a little higher than the others. His robes - if you could call the clothes robes - were studded with gold and unfamiliar runes.

Sirius couldn't see any guards, but that didn't mean there weren't any - the girl kneeling in the corner with a musical instrument he didn't recognise could easily be a bodyguard. Or they could be hiding behind the curtains in the back.

He glanced at Peter, who was squinting at the curtains, but not the girl. The curtains, then. Once more, Sirius would've liked to be Padfoot - he would've smelt everyone nearby, hiding or not. But if he had come as Padfoot, he probably wouldn't have been allowed inside.

Kateb nodded and mumbled a greeting. Bill replied in kind, bowing. Peter did the same, so Sirius bowed - though not quite as deeply. He was a Black, after all. And that still meant something.

Their host gestured towards the floating cushions - three of them - and they sat down. Crosslegged, like Kateb; Sirius didn't want to offend the man by dangling his legs. This was about Harry.

At a snap of Kateb's fingers, another girl entered with trays floating next to her. Refreshments. As she served, Sirius checked his ring. No poison.

Peter glared at him, but he ignored his friend. Only a fool wouldn't check for poison in such circumstances. Or at a Black family dinner. And Sirius had been subtle about it, anyway.

"Welcome to Algiers," Kateb said - in English - after a sip of overly sweet tea. "I hope you had a comfortable trip."

"We did, thank you," Bill replied.

Sirius nodded. "You know what they say: If you have travelled through one fireplace, you've travelled through all of them." He shrugged.

The wizard laughed, which was a good thing. Sirius's charm was working. "So they say. That's why I prefer to travel by carpet."

Which also indicated that he could take the time to travel that way, which was indicative of his status. Or should be - mother had had words for certain wizards and witches who didn't keep busy enough to need Apparition or Floo travel instead of brooms.

"Yes," Sirius said. "I've just bought a nice carpet myself."

"I was under the impression that they were banned in your home country."

"They are." Sirius smiled.

"Ah. But you didn't want to speak with me about carpets, I believe."

He suppressed a frown. Peter and Bill had impressed upon Sirius that Kateb wouldn't come straight to the point; that it was impolite to press the reason for their visit. So why would Kateb do it anyway? He shrugged again. "No. And I think you know why we're here."

"I must confess that the exact reason escapes me, though, given the kind of help I'm often offering to foreigners who have run afoul of peculiar customs in my country, I have certain assumptions."

"My godson, Harry Potter," Sirius said. "And his companion." It wouldn't do to call the girl Harry's friend. Sirius had quickly learned that Miss Granger was many things, but not Harry's friend. "We have good reasons to believe that they are currently the 'guests' of a pirate gang."

Kateb didn't twitch but tilted his head slightly as he ran a hand over his thin beard. "It seems you have me at a disadvantage. I haven't heard about this from a dependable source."

"And from not quite trustworthy sources?" Sirius leaned forward.

"Vague rumours I took to pure speculation or transparent attempts to frame a rival."

"Ah." Sirius took a sip from his still too sweet tea. "Well, rumours can be tracked."

"Not without a substantial effort."

That language Sirius knew well. "Which would deserve compensation."

Kateb smiled.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 16th, 1996

Lying on his back, Harry Potter stared at the ceiling. Not that he could make out much of it, not without his glasses. Which must have ended up somewhere on the floor during the night. Together with his trousers. And pants. And shoes. And watch.

How exactly he had been stripped naked was a little fuzzy. He was pretty sure it hadn't been a spell, though. And that it had been Hermione.

Hermione, who was currently using his chest as a pillow and the rest of his body as a mattress - he didn't need glasses to recognise the mane of bushy brown hair in front of him. And the way she had clamped her legs around his own also felt quite familiar. As did her skin on his. And she was naked, this time - he remembered that part clearly.

He closed his eyes. They had done it. Hermione and he. On her robes, stuffed with grass, in a makeshift underground shelter. If someone had told him a month ago that this would happen, Harry would have thought them a fool. Crazier than Luna's dad.

But it had happened. He'd had sex. With Hermione.

Bloody hell!

Ron would never let him forget this. And if Skeeter ever heard of this… He shuddered. And Mum… Ugh. Mum wouldn't be happy. At least, they had remembered to cast a Contraception Charm in time. Well, Hermione had. Harry would've been a little too late.

"Ngh."

Oh, no - Hermione was stirring. Waking up. She was making that cute and very un-Hermione noise. And she was shifting around on top of him.

Harry clenched his teeth. He didn't know how she would react. Hell, he didn't know what she had been thinking last night.

She lifted her head in an also familiar way, then stared at him, blinking. "Oh, hi Harry. Good morning." Then she blushed before he could reply. "Oh."

'Oh' indeed. Harry nodded. He could see how she went from happy and confused to embarrassed and… shy? He smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she repeated herself. Then she swallowed dryly - he saw her throat move - but didn't say anything else.

Nor did he. They stared at each other instead. She wet her lips and cleared her throat, but she still didn't say anything. But she also hadn't moved away from him. That was a good sign - or so he hoped.

He cleared his throat as well, drawing a deep breath right afterwards when he felt her shift a little more when he coughed. "So…" He wet his dry lips. "We, ah…"

"We had sex!" she blurted out.

"Yes." He nodded.

"And we've been chased by pirates with dogs. At least one dog."

"Yes." He nodded again, tensing up. Would she claim this was just stress again? She better not.

"So...." She sighed before biting her lower lip. "What do we do now?"

"About the pirates? Or… us?" Was there an 'us'? Damn, he sounded like one of Rose's stupid romance novels.

"The pirates are an urgent, very urgent threat," she said. "We can… sort out us afterwards."

'Sort out'? That wasn't a good sign. But Harry nodded anyway. "That sounds… logical."

"Very logical." She licked her lips again. And took a deep breath.

"Yes." He swallowed - he could feel her breathing. And… Damn. He drew a breath through clenched teeth. This was… He couldn't stand it. He couldn't just… ignore this. This whole thing. "You're beautiful," he whispered.

She gasped, her eyes widening.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I had to say it." He forced himself to smile.

"Ah…" She swallowed. "You're attractive yourself."

Really? His smile widened. "Thanks."

She nodded, a little jerkily. "And… well…" She bit her lower lip again.

Harry felt the urge to nibble on it himself. "Yes?"

Moments passed. He held his breath.

"I think I l-like you."

Ah. He felt both happy and disappointed. "Me too. You, that is." He clenched his teeth again. That was about as smooth as Neville trying to ask out Parvati. Though Neville hadn't been in bed with the witch. And they had both been clothed. Something Harry and Hermione weren't, as he was very much aware.

She smiled. Hesitantly. And wet her lips. Again.

He looked at her wide eyes. Then at her lips.

Damn it.

He slowly moved his free hand up to cup her cheek.

She tilted her head a little, leaning into his palm.

He raised his head, but with her position on him, he couldn't kiss her.

For a moment, he looked at her, looking awkward and stupid.

Then she shifted, moving forward, and they kissed.

*****​

My hormones will be the death of me, Hermione Granger thought. Harry and she were being hunted by Barbary Coast pirates, on a secret island, facing slavery or death, and instead of working on a plan to get out of this, she'd had sex with Harry. Again.

And it had been better than last night. She frowned at the stray thought crossing her mind. Of course the second time would've been better - practice made perfect, after all. And she had some ideas to improve the third time…

She clenched her teeth. No, she couldn't let herself get distracted. The island wasn't small, but it wasn't particularly large, either. As soon as the pirates found out that the wyvern was gone, they would be able to search the jungle at their leisure.

And Hermione had no illusions that this shelter would escape notice. Well, it might escape a cursory glance from the sky, but on the ground? Once the pirates buckled down and started to systematically comb the island, Harry and her days would be numbered.

"We need to make a plan," she said, raising her head to look at Harry. On whose body she was still lying, she noted. "And we better get dressed for that."

"Uh, yes," he agreed. "You're a little distracting like this."

She raised her eyebrows. "A little?"

"A lot." He grinned.

She returned the grin with more confidence than she actually had. Certainly, Harry had said he liked her, and that she was beautiful, but it wasn't as if he had a plethora of witches to whom he could compare her. Not on this island.

On the other hand, Hermione wasn't exactly at her best, either. If she made the same effort to style herself as, say, Lavender, she shouldn't look too shabby next to the others of her year. At least she hoped so. Lavender certainly told her so often enough.

She snorted. Her best friend's reaction, should she actually ask for more help with her makeup charms, should be a sight to behold.

"Oh?"

She realised that Harry was staring at her. "Sorry, I got lost in thought. I was thinking of Lavender."

He nodded. "Right. Ron and she would be worried to death about us."

Hermione felt rather guilty for her frivolous thoughts. Of course Lavender would care more about her being back safe and sound than makeup! "Yes. Which brings us back to planning."

"And dressing."

"Yes." She lingered on him for a moment longer, then slid off him and started summoning her clothes. Not without stealing a glance at Harry when he did the same. With the sun now high in the sky, the light shining through the openings in the entrance was easily bright enough to let her see his body perfectly well.

And Harry's body looked as good as it had felt.

She pursed her lips. That was her hormones speaking, again. Well, her hormones and her appreciation of aesthetics.

And her emotions, she admitted, clenching her teeth. She had to focus. She couldn't afford more distractions or flights of fancy. And neither could Harry. They had to find a way to escape the pirates and the island.

Sighing - there was no time for a real bath or shower - she cast a few cleaning charms on herself, followed by a few hairstyling charms. It wasn't as if a minute more spent on personal grooming would doom them, anyway.

Then she cleaned and mended her clothes - they hadn't weathered their hasty flight through the jungle any better than her skin had - and started to dress.

"Breakfast will be coconuts," Harry announced when she had finished dressing - of course, he'd have finished dressing faster. "I doubt we should risk grilling fish again."

"I concur." At least coconuts wouldn't attract bloodhounds. "We probably should stick to coconuts exclusively."

He grimaced at that. She sighed - she wasn't fond of the fare either - but eating coconuts was better than being captured. Or suffering an even worse fate.

With a flick of her wand, she summoned one coconut, then split it with him. And noticed with no small amount of satisfaction that he kept staring at her face and hair as they ate.

"So… what do we do?" he finally asked. "They'll search the island as soon as they realise we've killed the wyvern. Both will take them some time, so we need to find a way to escape them. And free their prisoner."

"Yes." She nodded. "So, first, we need to find out how they found us. I don't think a single hungry dog would start such a manhunt. Not so quickly, at the very least."

*****​

"That was a little… suspicious," Harry Potter agreed. "The response was very quick, and I didn't think even a dog could smell food from that far away."

"Unless the dog wasn't in the village, but already in the jungle when it smelt the food," Hermione pointed out.

"That would mean they were already looking for us," Harry said. "And were close."

"Yes." Hermione slowly nodded. "And if they were already looking for us, they must have had reasons to suspect our presence."

"But we were careful to erase our tracks," Harry protested.

"We might have overlooked something," Hermione said. "Or we might have triggered a spell without noticing."

"We would have heard the alert," Harry pointed out. "Or seen a reaction."

"Unless they didn't react immediately." Hermione snorted. "Just because you're supposed to react at once to an alert doesn't mean everyone will do it."

"Right." Harry nodded. "But we shouldn't assume that they made a mistake."

"No. But we have to assume that we weren't as thorough in avoiding traces and being noticed as we thought," she retorted. She grimaced. "That means we did all the scouting for nothing."

"Not for nothing," he reminded her. "We found out about their prisoner that way."

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. And the prison might have been where we made a mistake - that was the closest we came to the village. Into the village," she corrected herself.

It was a thin silver lining, but Harry would take what he could get. "So, we have to assume that in the future, they'll be aware once we enter the village."

"Or even the cove," Hermione added. "They might have set up spells to detect human-sized intruders and dismissed alerts as animals without further clues or alerts."

"Wouldn't that be triggered by every dolphin? Or tuna?" Harry asked.

"Yes, though I don't know if either species is native in these waters," Hermione replied. "Although if the wyvern, as I suspected, primarily hunted aquatic animals, such a spell would have been triggered often, rendering it useless for defence."

"I don't think anyone would use such a spell - the drawback should be obvious," Harry said. "Unless they wanted to use it as a shark warning system as well."

"That could be a reason for such a spell," Hermione agreed. "But in any case, we'll have to take a quick reaction into account."

"That means we have to lure the pirates - at least most of them - away from the village before we enter it," Harry said.

"There are so many pirates and their families, I doubt that we can lure most of them away," Hermione pointed out.

"Not all of them will be willing or able to hunt dangerous intruders," Harry told her with a grin. "If we get most of their better duellists out of the village, that should help a lot."

"Unless they're stupid, they'll keep some of their best in the village," she retorted.

"Still, it's better to fight half the village than the whole village." Harry frowned at her. He was trying to be optimistic here!

"But half the village would still overwhelm us easily," Hermione told him. "We need a distraction for the entire village. Or two distractions."

She wasn't wrong. "If they almost certainly didn't have it warded, I'd say setting the ship on fire would be a good distraction," Harry said. "Or the village." People tended to ignore a lot when they were trying to save their home. Or their lives.

"The houses will be protected against fire as well." Hermione shook her head. "And magic would easily deal with fire. Unless it was Fiendfyre."

Harry shuddered at the thought. Fiendfyre. The cursed flames that would even burn stone. Eventually. Then his eyes widened. Hermione couldn't be thinking of using that, could she?

She scowled at him. "I don't know how to cast Fiendfyre. Who do you think I am?"

'A witch who learned a Sandpaper Hex to scare off people' would've been the wrong thing to say, Harry was certain. "You didn't even read up on it?" he asked.

"Only enough to learn that it was easy to cast but very, very difficult to control," she replied.

"Ah." That put her up one on Harry - he hadn't read up on Fiendfyre. Past recognising it so he could flee. But it meant that she could theoretically cast it. Fiendfyre in the village would be the perfect distraction - if you didn't mind killing dozens of people. He nodded.

Hermione nodded as well. "It's illegal in every civilised magical country. Which excludes a few wizarding enclaves in the New World."

He snorted. The New World - at least the "East Coast", as Mum called it - was rarely at peace. One or another enclave were always trying to attack or destroy a rival enclave. But that wasn't here or there. And neither was Fiendfyre.

Though Harry couldn't help thinking that Hermione hadn't said that she wouldn't try to cast it at all. If all was lost…

He shuddered again.

*****​

A diversion that would lure out most of the pirates - or most of the dangerous pirates - followed by a diversion for the pirates remaining in the village. Both lasting long enough for Harry and her to break into the prison, free the girl and escape with the fishing boat.

It was a tall order, Hermione Granger knew. "We could probably lure out the pirates if we faked an escape attempt with a raft - or multiple rafts. But it wouldn't take them long to check or sink all rafts. Not with the brooms they have."

"Yes. By the time we could reach the village, they would already have returned," Harry agreed. "Setting fire to the jungle might work - if we manage to rig up a sort of timer so we can sneak to the village before the diversion starts."

"But a fire can be dealt with easily," Hermione pointed out. "We would need either a lot of accelerants or multiple fires breaking out."

"Multiple fires breaking out in one place, one after the other, might make them think we're there, so they would try to hunt us down there." Harry nodded. "That might work."

"Until they find the timer. Which we haven't invented yet." Hermione might have a few ideas, but nothing concrete.

"Bowl, filled with water, and a small hole in the bottom, use a swimmer as a trigger?" Harry suggested.

"If we find a match that burns long enough for this to work, we could just use the match." Really, that was merely logical.

He frowned. "Right. But do we know how to make a match?"

"I don't know how to create a rope," she admitted. Another piece of knowledge missing from her repertoire. Crucial knowledge. "I made a candle once, but not from scratch."

"Ah. Well, we have a piece of rope," Harry pointed out. "If we experiment a little, we might get a match."

"There's not too much to experiment on," Hermione said. "And the rope might not burn evenly."

"Well, some differences would only add to the chaos." Harry grinned.

"Let's assume we manage to get fires going - we still would need some sort of accelerant, but we can probably do that dry wood, enlarged and cut to pieces - then we still would need a distraction at the village."

"Set it on fire?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "The buildings will be warded against fire."

He frowned again. "We don't know that."

"And we don't know how many children are in the village." They would be endangered by such arson.

"Their parents will save them," Harry said. "And a few fires would draw attention."

"It's still too dangerous," she objected.

"We could attack the ship with tree trunks, enlarged, dropped from a great height at night," Harry suggested. "Transfigure them into metal spikes, and they would make nice holes."

That had potential. And it wouldn't endanger innocents. However… "But it would mean everyone's attention was on the water. While we're trying to steal a fishing boat."

He muttered a curse under his breath. She frowned at him but shared the sentiment. "We need a fake danger, then, which will fool them," she said.

"Easier said than done. Without my supplies, whipping up something is hard." She saw him rub his chin. "Smoke would be ideal - hides us and makes them think there's a fire."

"And it can suffocate people. Which is a drawback," she replied. Suddenly, she frowned. "Fire might not be enough to attract them - they didn't react when we used smoke to conceal our escape from the wyvern."

"The smoke didn't rise too much in the air, I think," Harry said.

"But it should've been visible anyway," she countered. Her eyes widened. "Do you think that was what made them aware of our presence? Smoke, a hunting wyvern, and then nothing?"

He slowly nodded. "That might've been it. Then they would probably suspect that we killed the wyvern."

"Not necessarily," she told him. "They might think we escape the wyvern by fleeing to the village."

"That's possible - they certainly didn't start looking for us until last night."

"Perhaps they suspected, and when the dog started barking…"

"...they knew." He nodded. "But now that they know, smoke should attract them."

"Which makes this even more dangerous. If they know we sneaked into their village, they'll prepare for that. Traps, guards, dogs…"

"That's why we need a good distraction," he said.

"Easier said than done," she repeated his words at him.

"I know. But there has to be a way to keep them busy." He frowned.

She shook her head. "We can't have one part of an army feint…" She trailed off. "Oh."

"We can have an army. Conjured animals," he said. "Enlarged ones."

"Oh." That might work. A veritable swarm of enlarged birds. She smiled. "What kind of animals can you conjure?"

"Well, I know the Snufflifor's Spell," Harry said.

She blinked. "That's not conjuring animals, though, that's…" Her eyes widened. "Oh, that was the spell you used to transfigure my book into a mouse!" She glared at him.

"Sorry. But it works on rocks as well as on books." He flashed a smile at her,

She scowled at him. That spell was an abomination. Who could even think of turning books into vermin? And he had used it on her favourite book!

*****​

Harry Potter winced. That was a very familiar expression. A very unwelcome one as well. And one he hoped not to see aimed at him any more. "Sorry," he repeated himself.

She huffed. "To destroy books…" She shook her head with a deeper scowl.

"It's not too hard to restore them, though," he pointed out.

"Unless they ran away before you could target them."

"Well, that's a hazard, yes," he admitted.

Another huff. "Well, if you can transfigure rocks, you can create a plague of giant mice. But you can't control them. Unless you have another spell for that?"

Of course she would've read up on the spell. He shook his head. "I don't have any such spell. But a horde of giant mice will be a good distraction."

"Probably. Though we'll have to hope that they won't attack humans."

"Mice aren't predators," he said, frowning.

"You would be surprised how many herbivores eat meat if the prey is small enough," she replied. "But we'll have to count on the pirates being able to deal with them."

"We only need them occupied until we are underway," Harry said.

"That's a long time with the speed of that fishing boat. And if they catch up - which they'll be able to with brooms - we'll be at their mercy."

"We'll have to do it at night," he said. "That will make it easier to slip away in the confusion."

"We need to be prepared for alarm charms and traps at the prison."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes." After a moment, he added, with a slight grin: "So, what spells did you learn for next year that would inconvenience some pirates?"

"I didn't exactly plan to take on large numbers of enemies," she replied. "I had to prioritise."

"Ah." Of course she'd planned to take on Harry - even though that wouldn't work out. It never did. Well, it only worked out rarely. "So, what did you learn to take on me?"

"I had a plan, but I didn't get far before someone tackled me into a Portkey." She flashed her teeth at him. "Although I think the Glacier Hex might be useful."

He frowned - he wasn't familiar with that spell. "What does it do?"

"Covers the ground in ice. It'll melt quickly in this climate, but that will only make it more slippery for a while."

"Neat." He nodded, but it didn't sound like a very effective spell. Especially when facing wizards with brooms.

"What about you?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well…" Bragging about not missing would be gauche. "Most of the spells I learned were meant to, ah, target single targets, so to speak."

"Duellists use indirect attacks as well."

"Yes. But my godfather didn't want to teach me the better ones." Well, Sirius initially had wanted to teach him the Blasting Curse, but Mum had put her foot down - on Sirius's toes - and the whole thing had been cancelled. He sighed. "I guess we'll have to improvise."

"Yes. Perhaps if we combine the Water-Making Spell with the Glacier Hex?" Hermione speculated. "It's meant to cover the ground, but if we aim correctly, that should spread to water. If we have a puddle that's ankle-deep or deeper, it might catch attackers in it."

"Or we try casting it on a stream of water," Harry suggested. "The Water-Making Spell can produce quite the pressure, and if that were ice instead of water…"

"It's not a constant spell, unfortunately," Hermione said. "It wouldn't let you hose down an area with ice shards."

"But if we freeze the water and then cast a Reductor Curse on it, that should have a similar effect." Harry grinned.

Hermione frowned, then nodded. "It should. And we should go through our entire spell repertoire to see if we can find more such synergies."

Harry smiled. "Oh, yes."

*****​

The water froze, trapping the wooden logs in ice. One of them toppled over, cracking the ice at once.

Hermione Granger lowered her wand, then cocked her head and listened. She couldn't hear anything.

"Seems clear," Harry reported from the door.

She sighed. At the fact that after killing wyvern, they were back to regularly checking the sky - and the ground - for enemies. And at the fact that their idea about trapping enemies in ice wasn't working. Not yet, she corrected herself - she had to stay optimistic. They still had time to prepare for this.

But there was so much to do. She glanced at Harry, who was leaning against the rock blocking the door, which made his trousers draw tightly…

She shook her head. She couldn't afford the distractions. Or the memories of last night. And this morning. She had to focus. Focus on getting this plan to work so they could start on the next.

She filled the corner of the shelter with water again, spraying it liberally over the logs that served as stand-ins for people, then cast the Glacier Hex. Once more, the water froze, strands of ice reaching up - but they broke easily. At least none of the logs toppled this time. And when she pushed and pulled on the closest, they didn't break free as easily as before.

"You should come and work with me on this," she said.

"Someone has to keep an eye out."

"They would need to search the ground to spot us," she said. "And we don't have much time to get ready."

He hesitated a moment, then pulled back from the rock and turned to face her. "Alright." He twirled his wand as he joined her.

"Show-off," she whispered.

Harry grinned in return. "So… I create the water, you freeze, I blow it up?"

"Better don't cast a Reductor Curse," she replied. "The sound carries."

"Right." He nodded sharply. "Let's see what happens if I keep casting the Water-Making Spell while you freeze the area."

"Yes."

He started hosing the corner down with water. Hermione waited a moment, then started casting herself. A few seconds later, much stronger, thicker strands of ice crisscrossed the entire area.

Hermione nodded. "That can be worked with."

"But it won't stop anyone for long," Harry pointed out. "We need more water, and faster. Oh!" He grinned again. "What about we create water in advance?"

But that would require… Hermione blinked. "That would be effective, I believe." She smiled. "And we shouldn't limit ourselves to water in this case." There were so many things they could prepare with the spells they knew.

"No, we shouldn't." Harry matched her smile.

He was also standing very close to her, she noticed. For an underground shelter partially filled with melting ice, this was starting to feel hot. Very hot.

She licked her lips and swallowed. "So…"

"So?" He turned to look at her, and she saw him twitch a little. And wet his lips.

Then they were kissing, again.

*****​

 

[Hermione Potter-Weasley]

probablydangerous

Click to shrink...

space

 

[Starfox5]

space

Click to shrink...

Thanks, fixed!

 

[Beyogi]

Holy shit they're horny. Young love an everythign, but there's goons with dogs out there looking for you. Maybe it's not the optimal time to sex each other?

 

[Prince Charon]

Holy shit they're horny. Young love an everythign, but there's goons with dogs out there looking for you. Maybe it's not the optimal time to sex each other?

Click to shrink...

Teenagers often don't have good judgement, and both have been shown to be fairly passionate people.

 

[Hermione Potter-Weasley]

And at least tried to avoid making that mistake.

 

[Starfox5]

Holy shit they're horny. Young love an everythign, but there's goons with dogs out there looking for you. Maybe it's not the optimal time to sex each other?

Click to shrink...

It definitely isn't the optimal time. But they're teenagers - they're not going to reign themselves in.

Teenagers often don't have good judgement, and both have been shown to be fairly passionate people.

Click to shrink...

Yep. Hormones are bad for common sense.

And at least tried to avoid making that mistake.

Click to shrink...

A valiant try, at least.

 

[Ironau]

Teenagers often don't have good judgement, and both have been shown to be fairly passionate people.

Click to shrink...

Actually getting it on might just be what they need. Dopamine from sex is a great way to deal with stress in the short term. They have definitely been stressed.

 

[Prince Charon]

Actually getting it on might just be what they need. Dopamine from sex is a great way to deal with stress in the short term. They have definitely been stressed.

Click to shrink...

Psychologically, sure, I was more speaking of the danger they're in, which this could increase.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 23: The Hunt

Outskirts of Brentwood, Essex, Britain, July 16th, 1996

Ten days. Ten days since Hermione and Potter had disappeared. Had been kidnapped.

Lavender Brown sighed, twirling her quill between her fingers, and leaned back in her chair. Then she glared at the sheet of parchment on her desk. Ten inches on the Switching Charm - who cared about a stupid charm when your best friend was missing? Who cared about a stupid charm, anyway?

Certainly not Lavender. The Switching Charm was just a prank spell. Used to switch out pumpkin juice with water or vinegar right before someone took a sip. It didn't really have any practical use, as her father was likely to say if she asked him about it. Well, you could probably use it to poison someone, but Lavender wasn't planning on doing that. And there were probably much better ways to poison someone than using this charm - you'd be left with part of the liquid you switched, the target might notice the spell being cast, and you had to be able to see the target.

So, even for a poisoning or a prank, the spell wasn't really a good idea, as Potter had found out in third year. Hermione had alerted McGonagall, and the teacher had caught Potter with a vial full of pumpkin juice labelled 'feathering potion' - the same potion found in Hermione's cup, which she, fortunately, hadn't drunk yet.

Lavender sighed again. Poor Hermione. Kidnapped - together with Potter. Or worse. Lavender closed her eyes and shook her head. Ron had insisted that the two were alive - but it had been ten days. Surely, any kidnapper would've contacted the Potters by now? Potter was famous, and his family was well-off or even rich - Daddy hadn't known when she had asked. Why hadn't anyone asked for a ransom yet?

Perhaps they had, and the family was keeping it quiet, to avoid endangering the negotiations?

But wouldn't Ron have told her? If he knew, of course…

She stood. Trying to do her assignment was pointless. She couldn't concentrate like this. Not with so many questions distracting her. She needed a distraction.

She left her room and went downstairs. Their fireplace was in the entrée. Which was a fancy word for a small entrance hall. Nothing as grand as the actual entrance halls in a manor, but better than having it in your living room, like the Weasleys.

She bit her lip, feeling guilty about her petty thoughts. Ron was a great wizard, and it wasn't his fault that his family was poor. Of course, if the Weasleys wanted, they could turn their corridor into an entrance hall with a few Extension Charms, but people would make fun of them - a house like the Burrow didn't have an entrance hall, after all. Just as Lavender's home didn't have an entrance hall, but an entrée.

It was important to keep such things in mind if you didn't want to be snubbed. Or worse - Lavender had heard rumours about what happened to wizards and witches who 'reached above their station', as it was called in the novels she read.

She stopped in front of the fireplace. Was this what had happened to Hermione and Potter? Potter was a half-blood, and his father was the Head Auror, but his mother was a muggleborn. Same as Hermione. And both witches weren't fond of Wizarding Britain's social structure. And they hadn't been shy about it, either - Lavender's parents had known about Potter's mum, and everyone in Hogwarts knew about Hermione's views.

Was this a way to strike at them? The Death Eaters were all dead or imprisoned, but Lavender knew that that didn't mean there were no bigots left - quite the contrary, actually, as Malfoy kept proving.

Did some Old Family have the two kidnapped?

Lavender bit her lip. It sounded stupid. Like the plot of a Roberta Randers novel. But… she couldn't help wondering if someone would do this.

She shook her head and drew her wand. A quick spell had the fireplace burning, and she threw a handful of Floo powder into it. "The Burrow!"

She would ask Ron about it.

"Yes?" she heard Ron's mum ask.

"It's me, Mrs Weasley, Lavender," she replied.

"Oh, Lavender. Call me Molly, dear!"

She pressed her lips together. Mrs Weasley kept telling her to call her Molly, but that would be far too… She shook her head. "Is Ron around? Can I come over?"

"Oh, yes, of course!"

Good. Lavender checked her appearance, cast a quick hairstyling charm, and stepped into the fire - and out of it, into the Burrow's living room. "Hello, Mrs Weasley," she greeted Ron's mum.

"Hello dear. Ron's on the Quidditch pitch."

"Thank you!"

She saw Ron on his broom as soon as she stepped through the back door. He was just flying around, not doing anything related to Quidditch training or doing any acrobatics. Well, not any real acrobatics. So, he probably was brooding - or 'clearing my head', as he'd call it.

Smiling, she walked towards the pitch. Which was, she couldn't help thinking, one of the only signs that the Weasleys were an old pureblood family. Not an Old Family, of course. But it was almost impossible to get permits for a private pitch these days - Dad had tried. Too many muggle aeroplanes or something was the official reason. Whether that was true or not, the fees and bribes were too high for Lavender's family.

Once she reached the pitch, she cast a quick Amplifying Charm and yelled. "Ron!"

He jerked on his broom, looking at the house, then down. As soon as he saw her, she waved, and he dived towards her.

Unlike the first time he had done this, on her second visit to the Burrow, she didn't scream and jump out of the way. Ron wasn't the demon on a broom that was Potter, but he was an excellent flyer and brought the broom to a stop right next to her. "Hello!" he said with a wide smile.

With him sitting on the broom, she just had to lean over to kiss him, so she did it.

"So… want to fly a little?" he asked after they ended the kiss.

Lavender nodded.

"The Cleansweep Three in the shed is good - Bill fixed the slight wobbling issue, so…"

She just mounted his broom behind him and hugged him.

"...or we can fly like this," he finished. "Hold on!"

She tightened her grip on him, and they took off.

They didn't talk much in the air. Just flew around, at a reasonable speed. Together.

*****​

The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, Devon, Britain, July 16th, 1996

"You said Bill fixed the Cleansweep Three?" Lavender asked later when Ron was putting the broom back into the shed.

"Yes."

"I thought he was in Egypt." Last she heard, Ron's oldest brother - who was married to Fleur Delacour, a Veela and Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion! - was working as a Curse-Breaker in the Valley of the Kings. They had married right after she had finished school, but that was normal for Curse-Breakers, Ron had told her.

"Ah, yes." Ron smiled in that slightly embarrassed way that meant he had done something wrong. "He visited a little while ago."

"You didn't mention that yesterday," Lavender pointed out.

Ron sighed. "I feel like Hagrid."

"Huh?" He felt like Professor Hagrid?

"I meant, I shouldn't have said that," Ron explained.

She blinked. "Oh. That was supposed to be a secret?"

"Sort of." He grimaced. "Please don't tell anyone."

"It's about Potter and Hermione, isn't it?" It had to be!

"Yes."

"Are they in Egypt? Or are they cursed? Trapped in a tomb?" She gasped at the thought.

"What? No. Well, we don't think so." Ron shook his head.

"So what do you think happened to Potter and Hermione?" She leaned forward and frowned at him.

"Well…" He looked towards the house. "This absolutely can't get out, OK?"

She nodded.

"We think that the Portkey belonged to a pirate. One working with the Barbary Coast pirates," Ron whispered.

Lavender gasped. "The Barbary Coast pirates? Oh, no!" That was… that was horrible! Everyone knew about the pirates and what they did to their captives!

"We're - well, the Potters and their friends, and Bill - are looking to contact the pirates," Ron went on.

"To ransom them back?"

"Yes." Ron nodded, but he looked...

"You don't think it'll work," she said.

"What? No, I just don't know…" Another sigh. "If the pirates want to ransom them, why didn't they contact the Potters already?"

Lavender pressed her lips together. That was a good question. Or a bad one. She had asked herself that, after all. The pirates had to know Potter - he was in all the newspapers! And they had to know that the Potters could pay a ransom! If they didn't want gold… She shook her head. If the pirates didn't even want to ransom Potter, then what about Hermione? Her family were muggles; they couldn't pay a ransom! That meant… She sniffled.

She felt Ron's arms around her, hugging her, when she started to cry.

"Bill's in Algiers, looking into things. Not alone, either. He knows what he's doing. And Fleur and her family are helping. This will work out," she heard him say.

But she didn't believe him. And she didn't think he believed it himself.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 16th, 1996

"Incendio!" Harry Potter whispered, pointing his wand down. A moment later, the enlarged piece of string on the ground started burning. It burned really well. And quite quickly.

"I think that wasn't slow enough," he commented as he extinguished the fire with a quick Water-Making Spell.

"I concur," Hermione agreed. "We would need far too much string to set a fuse that would let us travel forward before the fire starts."

"How did they make slow fuses?" Harry asked.

"Slow matches were treated with a chemical," she explained. "But I don't know which one - and even if I did, I probably wouldn't know how to obtain it."

He reached out and patted her shoulder - he knew how much she hated not knowing something that they needed. Or not knowing something, period. "Then we'll have to come up with a different timer."

"Or we find a way to start the fire from afar," she said.

"That'll be tricky," he told her. Harry knew that he had good aim, but the distance the distraction would require… He doubted that he'd be able to make it.

"Yes, I suppose so." She bit her lower lip. "Banishing wouldn't work, either. Although… Oh. I think I have an idea!"

"Yes?"

"Summoning. We make an iron ring and put an iron plate on it, above the fuel for the fire. Then we start a smaller fire on the plate. Then we can summon the plate, dropping the fire onto the fuel." She smiled. "Your Summoning Charm should work over quite the distance, right?"

Harry nodded. He wasn't quite sure how far he would manage - it had never come up - but it was probably their best option for their distraction.

"Good. I'll start making the iron rings and plates from the wood we have."

"I'll check the sky," he said.

"Careful."

"Always." He grinned at her, but as soon as he stepped outside the shelter, he grew serious. The pirates searching for them might have disillusioned themselves to avoid catching the wyvern's attention. He cast a Human-presence-revealing Spell, but that spell's range wouldn't help much with spotting a pirate on a broom. Worse, the pirates were almost certain to use the spell themselves, so if he could detect them, they could detect him. Especially if Harry climbed up into the jungle canopy above, to have a clear field of view of the airspace over the island.

Should he risk it? The pirates hadn't been disillusioned when they had been searching for them before, but that had been at night, and they were in a group. Dad had taught him that if you were in a group, disillusioning yourself was an invitation to catch friendly fire. Even the Human-presence-revealing Spell wouldn't help much there since there was no way to tell friend from foe if everyone was disillusioned. Mum kept planning to create a spell to deal with that but, so far, nothing had come of it. In any case, the light spells that the pirates had used would've given them away anyway. But they didn't need such spells during the day.

He looked up. There were a few gaps in the foliage above him, but they were small, and he was too far away, standing on the ground, to see anything but a tiny piece of the blue sky. And if he climbed or flew up, a floating marker would be visible above the canopy before he could detect anyone.

Instead of climbing up, he moved to the edge of the jungle. If he stayed under the trees, hidden in the underbrush, the spell's marker would be hidden under the canopy as well. And from the right spot, he should still be able to see part of the sky above the island, at least.

He told Hermione about his plans, assured her that he would be careful, and used the pole to fly towards the beach without leaving tracks a dog could find, though he had to fly above the underbrush for that.

And, once at the edge of the jungle, he had to hide on the ground anyway - there was no way around that. If the pirates brought a dog to this part of the shore… Well, Harry hoped that they could implement their plan before it came to that.

At least the part of the sky he could see from this spot was clear. So, either the pirates were still wondering about the wyvern, or they were disillusioned.

He hoped for the former. They needed more time to prepare their distraction. And their attack on the village.

Though even with more time, Harry was well aware that their chances wouldn't be good. But it was better than nothing. Better than being caught for certain.

*****​

Hermione Granger put her wand down and checked the plate she had just transfigured from wood into iron. It looked even enough - as it should, since she had checked it after carving it. Still, double-checking never hurt.

Satisfied, she put it on the stack with the others. Half a dozen plates, half a dozen rings - which looked like spring forms for baking, now that she thought of it.

Now all that was left was the tinder and kindling for the fire and wood for the slow-burning fire. The latter wasn't too hard - they had experience with burning wood now - but the former… if she could conjure paper, it would be far easier; parchment didn't catch fire as easily as dry paper. Although… she eyed her bed. The grass she used to pad it should be dry enough by now.

She checked and found she had been right. Perfect. Now she only needed kindling. And cutting wood into fine sticks and pieces wasn't hard.

Hermione was about done with enough kindling when Harry returned. "We need more grass!" she told him. "We need the current padding of our beds as tinder."

He blinked for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Also, unless we're ready this evening, we need to relocate, I think. We left a trail on foot back to the village, after all."

Hermione froze for a moment. "That was days old." Could a dog track them after days had passed? After it had rained?

"Do you want to take the risk?" Harry asked her, shaking his head as if he was anticipating her answer already

She sighed. "No, I don't."

"And no, you shouldn't have thought of that already." He smiled, but the words still stung.

No, not the words - her failure. "I should've thought of that," she said.

"I didn't think of it, either - and I have some experience with dogs."

"You have a dog at home?" she asked. He hadn't mentioned that before, had he?

"Sometimes."

"'Sometimes'? Do you dog-sit?"

"In a way. At least, that's what Mum calls it." He grinned.

She frowned at him. He was hiding something. Playing word games. And she didn't like it. "Stop twisting words."

"Sorry. A friend of the family visiting often means there's a dog in the house."

This was a very weird way to word it - Harry was still hiding something. For a moment, she thought about pushing him, but then she dropped the thought. They had more important things to worry about. "I don't think we can be ready tonight. We need to have the fires ready so we can start them right before the sun sets. Otherwise, the pirates won't see the smoke in the darkness. And we need to travel close to the village before we start as well."

He nodded. "And we can't start the fires too early, or we won't be able to hide in the darkness for our attack."

"Timing will be a challenge."

"Yes. So, we'll have to do it tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Hermione wanted to disagree. They needed more time to prepare. To test their devices. To plan and ponder. At least, that was what she was telling herself. But those were excuses. To start tomorrow meant just one day until they risked everything. Their freedom and their lives.

She nodded anyway. She might be afraid, but she wouldn't let that stop her. They had no choice, anyway - the pirates wouldn't delay their search for much longer. Unless they had already started. "You didn't see anyone, did you?" It was a stupid question; Harry wouldn't have been so calm if he had spotted a pirate.

He shook his head. "No. But if they're disillusioned…"

"We should still see their brooms unless they disillusioned those as well," she said.

"That would be hard," he told her.

"But not impossible." She was aware of the difficulty of disillusioning a broom - they had covered that when they had gone over the Disillusionment Charm; too many other spells interfered with the charm - but it had been done. Presumably, Aurors, or at least special teams, had access to such brooms.

"They don't need to use Disillusionment Charms; just colouring the things blue would help a lot."

She blinked. Right. Camouflage. Like aeroplanes. And with a simple Colour Change Charm, it would be easy to paint a broom the exact colour of the sky.

Harry was smiling, and she suppressed a scowl. She should've thought of that - she was the muggleborn, after all.

*****​

Harry Potter swished his wand and looked at the mound of grass at his feet. It looked large enough to replace the grass they'd use as tinder. Not that they'd be using beds, anyway - they'd be back to sleeping bags stuffed into a hole in the ground.

A sleeping bag stuffed into a hole in the ground, he corrected himself with a silly grin. If Hermione agreed, of course. Which he hoped she would. Even though she had looked annoyed before he left the shelter to gather the grass. Well, she looked cute even when she was annoyed, and she was annoyed pretty regularly, with herself or with him, so he better get used to it.

As he gathered the grass in his robes, he tried not to think about whether or not Hermione would stay with him after they got off the island. He had more important things to worry about - like the gang of pirates searching for them. Any moment, they could descend on them. If they were searching for them - they didn't seem to have searched for the French witch the wyvern had killed. Then again, the French witch hadn't killed the wyvern...

He looked at the sky, or what he could see of it through the thick cover of leaves and branches above them. The sun was setting in a bit. They had barely enough time to move to the south-eastern part of the island before night fell.

He entered the shelter. "Hermione? I've collected the grass."

She rose. "Good. I'm not quite finished with the kindling, but we can do that once we arrive in the area." She looked around. "We should vanish the furniture. That way, the pirates won't know how many of us are here once they find the shelter."

"Good idea," Harry agreed. "Or… We could add more beds. Make them think there's more of us."

"An entire group, stranded here?" She frowned a little. "Wouldn't that look suspicious?"

He shrugged in return. "How could they tell? And it won't tell them anything more than vanishing everything."

"They might suspect that we want them to think that there's more of us than us two," she pointed out.

"I don't think they'll think that far. But if they do, they probably would suspect us anyway." They must have found their hideout near the village, but if they thought that that was just a forward post or something...

"Let's at least vanish the cutlery."

"Yes."

They quickly made four more crude bed frames. Hermione dropped some strings from their robes - easily mended - and dried grass on the frames. "Just in case they check them thoroughly," she said.

"You think they'll investigate like Aurors?" Harry asked. Criminals rarely did, according to Dad.

"It can't hurt," she replied, sounding a little defensive.

"Right." He nodded. "But let's go now." He stepped outside.

The sun had almost set in the meantime - the sky was almost dark by now. That would slow them down. Then again, it would also slow down the pirates - if they even kept searching at night.

Harry grabbed the pole and held it out to her. "You fly!" he told her, smiling.

She huffed, but with a hint of a smile. "As usual."

"Yes. We should…" He trailed off. What was that?

"Harry?" Hermione whispered.

He held his finger in front of his lips and cocked his head. That had sounded like…

...the faint crack of a twig. Followed by a curse. From the direction of the beach. But far too close.

"They're here," he whispered.

Hermione gasped, her eyes wide, but a moment later, she flicked her wand, and the pole rose between them. "Let's go!"

He nodded. They had to leave at once. But… "Stay close to the ground at the start," he told her. "If we're too high, any markers from the Human-presence-revealing Spell will float above the canopy." But flying through the underbrush meant they would leave a track dogs could follow…

"East towards the hill, then we fly higher and head towards our destination," Hermione whispered as she mounted their improvised broom - she had understood his plan right away.

Good. He mounted the pole behind her, keeping his wand at the ready.

Another twig. Another curse. Closer this time. "Fly over the wyvern's grave," he whispered.

Without a word, she directed their ride towards the patch of earth covering the carcass. That might throw off the dogs. And maybe some of them would break through the top and end up impaled on the remaining spikes.

They're pirates, he told himself, they deserve it.

*****​

They had been stupid, wasting so much time after their first escape from the village, acting as if the pirates wouldn't find them for days! As if they had all the time in the world to prepare their plan! Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Hermione Granger clenched her teeth at her own ineptitude as she guided the pole through the underbrush. At least this time, she had managed to cast a Shield Charm beforehand, so she wasn't leaving parts of her skin and clothes behind.

She flew them over the former spike trap, then turned east towards the hill. It was still too bright to risk breaking cover, so she kept flying through the underbrush, weaving between the trees barring their way. She still expected bright cones of light to stab at the ground, like before, and dogs barking in hot pursuit.

Neither happened, and they reached the edge of the jungle without seeing or hearing anyone. Had Harry been deceived by some animal? No, she had heard the cursing too, hadn't she? Or had that been her imagination?

She brought the pole to a stop, hovering inside a dense bush. "Did you see them? Did we lose them?" she whispered.

"I don't know," he replied.

She looked over her shoulder. They had left a pretty obvious trail of broken twigs and branches through the underbrush. But she couldn't spot anyone behind them. She craned her neck, looking up, but she couldn't see much through the branches and leaves above them, either. Although… Had that been something moving above them? Someone? Or was it just a bird? Or a figment of her imagination? "I think I saw something in the sky. I'm not sure, though," she whispered.

"What?" She felt Harry move. "I can't see anything."

"I didn't see what it was," she said. "But if it was a pirate searching for us…"

"They might have gone on," Harry said. "They must not know where we are, or they would be here already."

She bit her lower lip. They had thought that before.

"We should've prepared traps," Harry muttered behind her. "That would've delayed them."

"Only if they fell for them," she pointed out.

"Even if they see the traps before triggering them, they would have to proceed more cautiously because there might be more traps," he countered.

That was correct. Provided they were dealing with rational people and not reckless ones. "Do you think we lost them?" she asked. "Should we go up? If we're in range of a Human-presence-revealing Spell…"

She heard him curse. "If we stay here much longer, they'll find us for certain - and they'll be in range. Get us above the underbrush!"

She swallowed but did so, guiding the pole upwards until they had left the underbrush. Then she started to fly south, following the edge of the jungle, towards the south-eastern corner of the island. Just as planned. Maybe...

The canopy above them blew up. She shrieked as splinters bounced off her Shield Charm and a large branch barely missed them as it crashed into the underbrush below, but pulled the pole to the side, accelerating out of reflex.

"They found us!" Harry yelled.

As if in response, spells flew past them, hitting trees nearby and the ground below. One of the trees toppled, blown apart, and Hermione tilted the pole, barely evading the falling wood.

"Reducto!" she heard Harry yell, but the spells kept coming - there had to be several pirates behind them!

For a moment, the spells stopped - she must have broken the pirates' line of sight - and she quickly turned west.

A moment later, more of the jungle canopy exploded - behind them this time. No splinters reached her, but she heard Harry curse. "Faster!"

She gritted her teeth and focused on moving the pole faster. There was a thick tree ahead, which would provide…

Something hit her Shield Charm, and she felt her spell shatter, the force pushing her down - into the underbrush. Branches and twigs tore at her, and she closed her eyes, raising one arm to protect her face, urging the pole to the side.

"Stay low!" Harry yelled. "They're tracking us with their spells!"

Hermione shook her head but pushed on, crashing into a denser bush. She couldn't recast her Shield Charm and keep the Levitation Charm going. The next spell would hit her! If she didn't catch a thicker branch to the head before that.

She heard Harry cast more spells behind her while she forced the pole to fly west, then south in an attempt to lose their pursuit.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

*****​

Where were the bloody pirates? Harry Potter couldn't see any of them. There! A red spell - a Stunner? He couldn't tell - flashed by. He sent a Stunner back, but he didn't expect to hit anyone - the pirates were on real brooms, not levitated poles, and moving far too quickly to be hit.

Another part of the jungle canopy blew up, and he flinched as a bunch of splinters hit his Shield Charm. If any of them got past and hit Hermione… He quickly looked at her. She didn't seem to be hurt. Good.

Then he winced as they plunged into a particularly dense bush. Her Shield Charm was gone; this must hurt her.

He recast his own - he couldn't cast any spell at their pursuers if he couldn't even see the sky. Or the area behind them.

They couldn't escape like this, though. It was too bright - too easy to follow their trail. And if they flew too high, the markers from the damn Human-presence-revealing Spell would point at them.

And he didn't think they would last long enough until nightfall allowed them to lose the pirates in the darkness. They needed another plan. And it was up to him - Hermione was too busy flying them.

But he had no idea. He was a duellist, not an Auror. And Aurors generally chased criminals; they weren't chased themselves.

Think, Harry, think! What would Uncle Peter do? Fool them into chasing a decoy, transform into a rat and hide, of course. Just as he had told Harry once.

They couldn't transform into rats, but they could create a decoy. Probably. But they couldn't hide - the pirates' spells would find them.

They broke through a sort of hedge, and Hermione took a sharp turn to avoid a small clearing. Harry kept his wand trained on the sky. If he spotted someone... He gasped when a floating marker appeared overhead and sent a Stunner up without hesitating.

His curse hit - he saw the tell-tale signs of a Shield Charm shattering - but Hermione took them through another bush before he could follow up with another spell.

And the damned pirates blew up more of the jungle. They only cast the Blasting Curses at the trees above them, though - never at them. Even though a few such curses cast near them would talk them out.

The pirates obviously wanted to capture them. To interrogate them. And to...

He clenched his teeth. He wouldn't let them. He'd rather die.

If only the pirates would drop into the jungle to chase them. Harry could hit them then. Or drop some trees into their path. But they stayed in the sky, above the trees, chasing them. Herding them.

"We have to change course!" he snapped. "They're herding us."

Hermione didn't reply but she took another sharp turn, towards the beach. And back towards the shelter. That might buy them some time, But it wouldn't be enough - it was still too bright.

He just couldn't hit the pirates on their brooms. It was impossible to aim at disillusioned people moving that fast. And even if Sirius had taught him the Blasting Curse he would still have to hit something near a disillusioned enemy with it - and there was nothing in the sky to hit at all.

He blinked. Nothing - unless they put something up there. Hermione's birds! No - she couldn't cast another spell while guiding their ride. It was up to him. And he couldn't conjure birds. He could transfigure things into rats, but rats couldn't fly. He could…

Sirius's aiming exercises! Skeet casting, as his godfather had called it. It had been a while, but… it was their only hope.

He needed a projectile. Anything would do. The enemy would have to be very close to get caught in the explosion of a Reductor Curse, unlike a Blasting Curse's explosion, but it was all he could think of.

While Hermione circled around a batch of trees that had grown too close together to fly through them, he cast a cutting curse at the closest branch, then summoned it. A few more Cutting Curses netted him four roughly even pieces. He kept two jammed between his stomach and Hermione's back and took the other two in hand. "Fly closer to a hole in the canopy!" he snapped.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she snapped back. But she was turning towards the hill again.

Then another part of the canopy exploded behind them, and Hermione turned again.

Harry took a deep breath, then banished first one, then the other piece of wood through the hole in the canopy, into the sky.

And sent two Reductor Curses after them.

His first curse hit the piece and detonated. Harry saw the sparks of a shield shattering. Then his second curse hit, and he heard a scream. And something invisible crashed through the branches and leaves behind them.

"We've got one!" he yelled. "He crashed!"

"Should I turn around?" she asked.

Before he could answer, the canopy above them exploded, followed by the ground behind them.

"No!" he yelled.

The pirates weren't trying to capture them any more.

*****​

Hermione Granger clenched her teeth and held her breath, trying not to scream as the jungle around them seemed to disappear in explosions. How many pirates were there? A dozen? All of them?

And how could they escape them? She ducked her head, urging the pole to go faster, forcing her Levitation Charm to move more than ever.

It wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough. Actual brooms were faster. She was just a student.

Another explosion, closer, showered her with clumps of earth. Mostly - something hit her arm, and she winced at the pain that followed. A quick glance showed her that it had only been a glancing blow - but one that left a bleeding tear in her skin.

She flew them under a toppled tree, through a bush that left more of her skin scratched and bleeding. She almost crashed into a rock, barely managing to veer off - which saved them since an explosion swallowed the area behind the rock a moment later.

They had to survive until the pirates couldn't see them in the night any more. And they wouldn't make it.

She was crying with frustration and fear as she flew around another massive tree. But the next explosions were further away. "They're casting blindly," she snapped.

"Yes," Harry replied. "We need to hide!"

But they couldn't hide. Not when the pirates were blowing up the jungle.

"We have to fake our death!" she said.

"How? We can't fake our bodies!"

"Temporarily!" Long enough to get away and hide for real.

"How?"

That was the question. And she couldn't plan while guiding the plank they were riding through the jungle. "Think of a way!" she snapped.

"I'm trying!"

"Try harder! And faster!"

She felt more than she heard him chuckle in response since the next explosion was closer than before. They're casting blindly, she reminded herself. It's just blind luck.

But luck would run out sooner or later. It always did. No one was lucky forever.

"Get us back to the hill!" Harry yelled.

She hesitated a moment. Then she turned around. They just had to be lucky. Any direction was as good as any other, with the pirates randomly casting Blasting Curses into the jungle.

"Incendio! Incendio! Incendio!"

"Are you setting the jungle on fire?" she yelped, weaving through three close trees.

"We need the smoke!"

That would likely render their planned distraction harder. She snorted against her will - as if that plan would work any more. They needed to survive this first, anyway!

She flew them towards the hill, taking a curved approach. Harry kept casting his spell.

"Stop! They'll be able to follow the smoke!"

"That's the idea!"

"What?"

"Just fly us towards the hill. And be ready to dig!"

To dig? Oh no! This was crazy. They'd die!

But she didn't have a better idea.

And the explosions were coming closer - and it was getting harder to avoid the holes in the jungle. They were running out of time.

She changed direction and flew straight towards the hill. "Almost there!"

"Alright! Accio torn branch!"

"You want me to dig a hole?"

"A cave, straight into the hillside! Then summon me once the smoke covers everything."

Her eyes widened. "No! You won't! No!"

But he had jumped off already.

She almost stopped and turned around. But he was counting on her to do her part. It was their only chance.

But if they survived this, she would make him suffer for sacrificing himself as bait once again!

Clenching her teeth, she guided the plank towards the hillside, staying inside the jungle. The last part… she needed cover for that. Smoke.

Behind her, more explosions tore up the jungle. And she heard Harry's voice, amplified.

"Get some, you bastards!"

Hermione started setting the jungle on fire as well, putting everything into her spells. If she was too slow…

She shook her head, tears running down her face as she prepared to rush towards the hillside.

Then she pointed her wand ahead at the hill.

"Evanesco!"

Behind her, she heard Harry's voice again.

"You'll never get us alive!"

Then an explosion swallowed everything.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Actually getting it on might just be what they need. Dopamine from sex is a great way to deal with stress in the short term. They have definitely been stressed.

Click to shrink...

That's one advantage, but...

Psychologically, sure, I was more speaking of the danger they're in, which this could increase.

Click to shrink...

This. thinking with your naughty parts is generally a bad idea when in danger.

 

[Murp-Murp the Wizard]

I love the mental aspect of this chapter it reminds me of the opening scene of all quit on the western front obviously its very different context from a army vs army trench warfare but the emotions of Harry and Hermione to basically artillery fire feels gives off a very desperate and confused vibe in reaction to the uncertainty of how many pirates there are and how to escape.

 

[Beyogi]

I love the mental aspect of this chapter it reminds me of the opening scene of all quit on the western front obviously its very different context from a army vs army trench warfare but the emotions of Harry and Hermione to basically artillery fire feels gives off a very desperate and confused vibe in reaction to the uncertainty of how many pirates there are and how to escape.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's a powerful movie. Coincidentially our teachers happened to run it in class just before whenever the army recruiters came to advertise.

 

[Hermione Potter-Weasley]

Wait, where you live that you had army recruiters in a school?

 

[Murp-Murp the Wizard]

Wait, where you live that you had army recruiters in a school?

Click to shrink...

Whenever there was a annual job fair at school I remember there would be at least one branch of the armed forces this was in a urban south USA city high-school also school would encourage kids to take a aptitude test specific to the military called the ASVAB.

 

[Beyogi]

Wait, where you live that you had army recruiters in a school?

Click to shrink...

Germany. They usually came for the job fairs, but yeah for some odd reason our teachers felt like reminding us what war was like.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 24: The Retreat

Algiers, Algeria, July 16th, 1996

"Ah. How much this city changes as soon as the sun sets!" Standing on the balcony of their room - their suite - Sirius Black took a deep breath of the cooling air outside. "The heat is almost bearable now!"

"Did you forget how to cast charms?" Peter asked from behind him.

"Of course I didn't!" Sirius replied, turning with a scoff to look at his friend, sat on the divan in the suite's salon. "It's the principle of the thing." And Padfoot couldn't cast spells even though his thick coat of fur was hell in this climate. The stray dogs they had seen probably didn't have the mange; they must have shed their fur voluntarily to battle the heat. "I taught Harry how to cast a Gentle Breeze, after all." Harry. His godson.

Sirius pressed his lips together and quickly strode towards the bar in the salon, filling a glass with what the hotel considered their best whisky. Which didn't come close to Firewhisky, of course, but you had to make amends for muggle hotels.

But it would be enough to take the edge off the reminder that his godson was missing for close to two weeks, without any notice.

Peter, as observant as ever, didn't comment but leaned back and looked at the sheets of parchment in his lap again. He wouldn't find anything new; he had been reading them for hours - ever since they had returned from Kateb's house.

Sirius finished his glass and sighed, then threw himself into the armchair facing Peter's divan with the kind of flamboyance his mother had hated. "I hate being stuck inside."

"Nothing keeps you from going outside," Peter replied without looking up.

"Other than the fact that I don't speak the language?" Sirius retorted, picking up a muggle magazine.

"You speak French."

"Magical Algiers doesn't speak French." It was a sports magazine. Since muggles didn't know about Quidditch, the only interesting parts were the pictures of the women in bikinis, and Sirius had seen better.

"You could've gone with William and Fleur," Peter pointed out.

Sirius scoffed. "You didn't. That means you don't think you could've been of use, and between us, you're the spy."

"You're the better duellist."

Well, of course Sirius was better in a fight - the Blacks had their reputation for a reason, after all, and that tradition wasn't amongst the parts that Sirius had dropped as soon as he had become the head of the family. "I am also not as good at spying and might endanger their disguise." They were posing as visitors from Egypt. Fleur might not speak Arabic as well as Bill, but as a woman, she wasn't expected to say much anyway in public. Unlike in private. Or something like that - Sirius didn't really understand those particular customs.

This time, Peter looked up with a surprised expression. "Self-awareness? Should I check for Polyjuice Potion?"

"Hahaha," Sirius retorted. "Don't give up your day job." That was an expression Harry had taught him. Sighing, he grabbed another glass.

"Don't drink too much; we still have dinner with another contact of William's," Peter told him.

Sirius glared at him but put the bottle down and grabbed a beer instead. "Let's hope this contact will be more useful," he spat between sips. Though Bill had said he didn't expect much.

"It's only been half a day; you can't expect Kateb to have found Harry and Miss Granger already."

"For the gold I paid him, I should expect results!" Sirius protested before sighing again. "I hate waiting."

"I think everyone who knows you knows that," Peter commented. He sounded a little testily himself, so he wasn't as stoic as he tried to appear, either.

Sirius grinned at that. It made his friend more… well, normal. He usually was such a 'cool customer', as Harry would say. The mysterious spy. The Wizard of Mystery. He sighed again, his brief amusement vanishing. "Do you think we'll find them?"

"Yes." Peter's response was a little too smooth. Too quick. And he wasn't looking at Sirius.

Damn.

"We've taught Harry well, haven't we? He should be able to… to handle everything," Sirius said.

"Within reason," Peter replied.

"And the girl's no slouch, either. She could keep up with Harry."

Peter didn't reply.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked.

Peter put the parchment down again. "Harry and Miss Granger get along with each other as well as we did with Snape," he said.

"That's different!" Sirius protested. "Snivellous was a Death Eater. This is just, well, a prank war."

Peter snorted. "Of course you'd think so."

Sirius frowned. What did his friend mean? This was a prank war. Nothing serious. Sirius should know - he had given Harry a number of ideas and some help for dealing with Harry's 'nemesis'.

All in good fun, of course.

*****​

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 16th, 1996

Amir Saidi's home, which appeared to be roughly the same size as Kateb's from the outside, looked quite modest on the inside, Sirius Black found. No, not modest - understated. The entrance hall he, Peter, Bill and Fleur entered was scarcely decorated, but the sculpture and the two tapestries that graced it were of exquisite quality, and the ornaments on the pillars and walls were… actually hiding runes, he noticed. Clever.

"Bill! Fleur! Welcome to my humble home!"

And their host was greeting them in person - a corpulent wizard with a wide smile walked towards them, his arms spread wide while the servant that had opened the door - a young man - withdrew through a side door.

"Amir." Bill nodded at the man with an easy smile. "Thank you for having us."

"Bonsoir," Fleur said as she removed the cloak and veil she had been wearing outside. Her smile was a little more restrained, in Sirius's opinion. "These are our friends, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew," she added, gesturing towards them. "Sirius, Peter - Amir Saidi."

"Be welcome as well!" Saidi nodded at them, his smile not wavering. "Come, come, you must be hungry. My cook has prepared a feast!"

He led them through a courtyard full of exotic plants - and so humid, it must have been covered with spells - and into another sparsely but finely decorated room. There a long but low table covered with dozens of plates carrying mounds of food of all sorts was waiting for them.

Obviously, the man was quite less restrained when it came to his food compared to his home decor. Well, his girth should have made that obvious.

"Sit, sit! And enjoy the meal!" Saidi sat at the head of the table, with Peter and Sirius taking one side and Fleur and Bill the other.

Unlike Kateb, Saidi didn't have any guards that Sirius could spot.

They started eating - the food was excellent although a little too exotic for Sirius's taste - while Saidi and Bill chatted about their time in Egypt, with Fleur occasionally commenting as well. That left Sirius and Peter mostly to laugh when their host told a funny anecdote or made a joke. Not that Peter minded, of course.

Though once everyone had had their fill, Saidi leaned forward, his hands on his knees, and his smile grew a little more eager. "So, please tell me what made you - finally - accept my invitation, after you kept refusing for years!" He nodded at Fleur. "It must be important for you to brave my home country."

"We're looking for two kidnapped children," Bill said.

"And you come to me?" Saidi seemed honestly surprised.

"We came for Kateb," Bill explained. "And since we were already in the city…" He shrugged with a smile.

"Ah." The wizard nodded. "He is good at that filthy business, though he'll fleece you like an unbound Djinn."

"We know that," Bill said.

"He already did," Sirius added with a scoff. "Fortunately, I am quite well-off."

Saidi narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't be a member of those Blacks, would you?"

"I see our reputation precedes me," Sirius replied, smiling and showing his teeth. "I'm the head of the family."

The man's eyebrows rose as he turned towards Bill. "You're travelling in different circles, my friend. I didn't know you were so highly connected - unless one of your relatives managed to win Mr Black's heart." He smiled at Fleur.

Sirius laughed at that, though Bill shook his head. "We have mutual friends."

Saidi tilted his head to the side. "Then this isn't about a raid on the French coast, as I thought." His eyes widened. "Young Mr Potter's disappearance?"

"You've heard of it?" Fleur asked.

"It was in the newspapers. Although there was nothing about my shadier compatriots being involved."

"That only came out recently and isn't common knowledge," Bill said.

"But who would be so daring as to raid Britain?" Saidi shook his head. "Everyone knows not to provoke Dumbledore!"

"Ah, Albus is a nice man if you get to know him," Sirius said with a smile. "Very forgiving - unless you cross lines no decent wizard would ever cross, of course."

"Of course." Saidi's smile grew more than a little forced. "And you hope to solve this… affair… amiably?"

Sirius leaned forward. "We will solve this affair by doing whatever is necessary to get my godson and Miss Granger back."

"I see." Saidi nodded. "Then it would be prudent for me to lend you my assistance for this endeavour."

Now it was Bill and Fleur's turn to frown. "I didn't think you were involved with pirates," Bill said.

"I'm not. But we might have mutual friends. Friends who are as aware as I am that provoking the wizard who cowed the Ottomans into action is not a good idea if you like to keep your business, home and life." Saidi nodded. "So, please tell me what you know about this affair."

*****​

Unknown Island, July 16th, 1996

"You won't get us alive!" Harry Potter yelled through his Ventriloquism Spell, centred on a small cove a bit away. Through the hole the pirates had blasted into the jungle's canopy, forming a small clearing, he could just barely see a marker moving towards the cove.

Then the whole cove blew up. Harry gasped and threw himself to the ground. A moment later, the shockwave hit, blasting him further into the jungle, shattering his shield and engulfing everything around him in dust and smoke.

He rolled over the roots and stones and through the underbrush. Branches tore at his skin and clothes - he barely managed to protect his face and glasses - before he crashed into something that didn't give way.

He hissed at the pain in his side. How could…? Gritting his teeth, he looked around, coughing in the smoke and dust cloud. A tree trunk had stopped him. He was deeper in the jungle - his marker wouldn't be visible from above. Not in the smoke cloud, anyway. But that wouldn't stop the pirates from blasting the rest of the trees to splinters.

Unless they had taken the bait and thought that they had killed Harry and Hermione. Another explosion told him they hadn't been fooled. Or just wanted to make sure that they got them. He needed to get out. But if Hermione summoned him now, the pirates might spot him. He hoped she wouldn't do it anyway.

Damn. He couldn't see the pirates through the smoke and trees. There was only one thing he could do.

He gritted his teeth and got up. He recast his Shield Charm before pointing his wand at the next bunch of trees. "Incendio!"

More fires. More smoke. A Bubble-Head Charm let him breathe without coughing. His ribs still hurt each time he inhaled.

But it might make the pirates think that Harry and Hermione were dead. If he transfigured some wood into mice and enlarged them… no. Blood wouldn't last in the fire, and he would have to vanish the bodies to keep from giving the game away.

Another explosion, closer than he liked. Had they spotted him? It was pretty dark now, and with all the smoke…

The next explosion blew him off his feet, but his shield held - until he hit a rock. He recast the Shield Charm at once, then rolled around. Still inside the jungle, but…

...the pirates were opening the canopy, then casting at the ground now, toppling trees and razing the jungle. And they were closing in on him.

He took a deep breath. If he ran out of the jungle, sending curses at them, screaming about avenging Hermione… they might think she was dead. And if they killed him… They might not look for her. He licked his lips - the heat from the fires was telling. It could work. And it was better than getting blown up here. And…

He felt the tug at his trousers and gasped before he was pulled through the bush, towards the hill. No! Hermione was summoning him!

He twisted his body, looking around. If the pirates saw him… But everything was covered in smoke. And the sky was dark.

And he was flying towards a huge fire! Gasping, he managed to cast a Water-Making Spell, turning the stream of water on himself, then, at the last moment, on the fire in front of him.

The flames still burned. For a moment. Then he was through - and flying towards the hill. He clenched his teeth. This would hurt.

A second later, he hit the ground, and his breath was knocked out of him. He coughed as he felt hands grab him.

"Get inside!"

Hermione. He scrambled, kicking at the ground as she pulled him into a small hole. Cave.

"Hermione!"

"Shh!" she snapped. "I need to cover the entrance!"

He blinked, groaning with each breath, as she did something to the entrance, and, suddenly, it was dark. "I can't cast a Wand-Lighting Charm. They would notice," she said. "How badly are you hurt?"

"I'm fiugh," he spat as her hand brushed over his side.

"Ribs."

"YesARGH." He felt her poke him.

"Only one side. I think I can deal with that."

"You think?" He didn't laugh. That would hurt.

"I think I should let you die for the stunt you pulled! Sacrificing yourself, you bloody idiot!" she spat in a low voice.

"Shh! They might hear!"

"Not unless you scream," she retorted.

"You just said…" he started to object.

"Shut up!"

He heard her sob and he shut up.

*****​

Hermione Granger stifled. She couldn't cry. Not now. Not when Harry - the bloody idiot! - was hurt, and pirates were looking for them. Looking for them by burning down and blowing up the entire jungle!

She had to keep it together. She couldn't break down, or they were lost.

Shuddering, she took a deep breath. Her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, but she couldn't cast a Wand-Lighting Charm to see in the hole she had created. Not with a makeshift cover hiding the entrance that would let the light shine through.

Perhaps if she managed a very dim light… but she had never tried that. And this wasn't the moment to experiment.

"Hold still," she hissed when she felt Harry move. The idiot was hurt - probably broken ribs; bruised at the very least - and shouldn't move at all. Certainly not after being summoned and dragged through the jungle.

Dear Lord, he had to be hurt worse than she had thought! If a rib had pierced his lung… No, he would be coughing blood in that case, wouldn't he?

She couldn't tell. But his ribs hurt. Damn it. If she healed them like that… She bit her lower lip. Hard. First things first.

"Episkey!" she whispered, pointing her wand at him. Dealing with the cuts and lacerations wouldn't do harm. "Episkey! Episkey!"

"Thanks."

She pressed her lips together. "Can you breathe without… tasting blood?"

"Yes."

That had come quickly. But Harry wouldn't be lying to her, would he? "Then your ribs probably aren't buried in your lung," she said.

"I think I'd notice that."

She scoffed. "You probably wouldn't notice a missing arm until you tried to pick up your wand."

He chuckled at that, then groaned.

Served him right! She clenched her teeth. How could he have done this? Sacrificing himself - again! - without telling her?

"Can you heal broken bones?"

"I know the spell," she replied in a whisper.

"Never tried it?"

She pressed her lips together. "I never had the opportunity to practice it."

"Well, now you have the chance."

And without a teacher or Healer to correct her mistakes. If she did this wrong… she could cripple him. "I take it you don't know the spell, then?"

"Sirius taught me the spell, but Mum wouldn't let me practice it."

"On yourself?" she gasped.

"On animals."

"Oh." That was… if she conjured an animal, she could practice the spell. But without light, she wouldn't be able to check if she had cast it correctly. And to hurt animals, even conjured ones, like that...

"Just do it. I trust you."

She felt herself briefly smiling at that. "Alright." She took a deep breath and pointed her wand at him. This would need her complete focus. She couldn't afford any mistake - the consequences would be... She closed her eyes, took another deep breath and forced herself to relax her jaws.

"Brackium Emendo!"

Harry groaned again, and she felt as if her heart skipped a beat. Had she failed? Crippled him? Killed him? "Harry?"

"Ah… that feels good."

Relief filled her. Then annoyance. She should break his ribs again to worry her like this! Pressing her lips together, she probed his side with her free hand. "Does this hurt?"

"No, it doesn't."

"And this?" She pinched his side.

He hissed in return.

"Just testing if your nerves are working," she told him. It wasn't actually a lie. Theoretically, she could've just numbed his side instead of healing his ribs.

"Right." He didn't sound as if he believed her.

"I can't do anything about any burns you might have," she told him.

"I should be fine. I managed to cast a Water-Making Spell before you dragged me through the flames."

She glared at him, even though he couldn't see her face. That had been his idea! Although… "So, you mean wet yourself?"

He chuckled. "I guess I deserved that."

"Yes," she told him. "You do."

"Sorry."

She hesitated. She wanted to lay into him. The memory of seeing him disappear in the jungle - in the burning jungle… She clenched her teeth. "Don't do it again, or I'll kill you myself."

He chuckled again. "I won't."

"Good."

She felt him reach out, hugging her, and she returned the hug. It made her feel safe. Safer - the pirates were still out there. She could hear the distant sound of an explosion. But the way she had dug the cave, straight into a steep hillside, any Human-presence-revealing Spells the pirates cast wouldn't detect them - or, rather, the markers wouldn't be visible. For now, they were safe.

She slowly started to relax in his arms.

Though she didn't believe that he wouldn't pull such a suicidal stunt again. Not really. She was certain that he would try to sacrifice himself if he thought that it was the only way. That was how the idiot worked.

She would have to make sure that wouldn't happen. Even if she had to sacrifice herself.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Harry Potter had Hermione in his arms. And her hair in his face, tickling his nose. And smelling like smoke and ashes. Or that might be him - the Bubble-Head Charm was great to keep a stench out, but if you were stinking... He snorted. The leg she was mostly resting on was all pins and needles, but that was a small price to hold her, feel her breath, her heartbeat.

He was happier than he had felt in a long time. They were alive. The pirates hadn't found them. Hadn't killed them. Or caught them.

He twisted his neck, trying to get a good look at the entrance of the small cave Hermione had dug. It was still dark - no light shone through the small slits Hermione had left in the lid she had created for air circulation and to check their surroundings. Which meant the sun hadn't yet risen. Which meant they had to get up.

"Hey, Hermione," he whispered.

She didn't react. Didn't even shift or make some amusing noise. He shook her - gently. "Wake up, Hermione. We need to go."

This time, he felt her tense, then try to sit up, but he held her. "Shhh. The pirates might be outside," he whispered as he felt her go for her wand.

She stiffened, then relaxed a little. "Alright," she replied in a whisper, squirming in his arms until she was on her belly - and his tingling leg - and staring through the closest slit. "It's dark outside. I don't see flames or fire, but there's a sort of glow a little away."

He followed her example, rubbing his leg as he took a closer look himself. She was right. "The fire must have spread and burnt out here."

"Good. That means we can hide in the darkness."

Unless the pirates had found them and were just waiting for them to crawl out of their cave… no. They could've easily taken them in the cave - they would've been trapped. "Where are we going? To the southeast or towards the village?"

"Southeast is the obvious choice, so the pirates will expect us to head there. Unless they think we died."

"Best not count on being so lucky," he replied. "We might have exhausted our luck surviving yesterday."

"You surely did," she said.

He winced. She hadn't taken his plan well - but there hadn't been time to explain and discuss it. And Harry had had the best chances to make it out - Hermione had the experience for digging a hole and summoning him, and Harry had the combat experience. Well, the duelling and Quidditch experience. But it was better than nothing. Although Hermione had flown their improvised ride quite proficiently. Once they were home, he would have to encourage her to try out for the team. Although she probably would need some training with a real broom. He could give her some private lessons! Help her pick a decent broom - maybe buy her a used one as a gift, or ask Sirius...

Harry blinked. "The broom," he whispered.

"What? Did you spot a broom?" Hermione gasped.

"No. But I got one of the pirates. Made him crash. When he was chasing us," he explained.

"Oh."

She didn't get it. "He crashed, and his broom went down in the jungle. Close to nightfall. In the middle of our battle."

"Of the chase," she corrected him.

He ignored the remark. It had been a battle. "They must have recovered him. But they would've done so hastily, so they wouldn't risk getting cursed by us. And they will have taken him back to the village."

"Oh. You think they forgot the broom?"

"Yes." A real broom - and a decent one!

"Even if they did, it might've burned in the fires," she pointed out.

"Only one way to find out." He flashed a smile even though she wouldn't see it in the darkness and tried to imagine the broom he had caught a glimpse of during the battle. "Accio downed broom!"

He cast the spell as well as he could. He focused on the image of the broom. The broom that had to be out there - the pirates wouldn't have been able to recover it, not in the chaotic battle. And afterwards… no, it had to be there. Had to be in range. He closed his eyes and concentrated. On the broom. On the spell.

Hermione didn't say anything. Wouldn't distract him.

Was this a tug? Did his wand twitch? Did he have to recast the spell? The broom couldn't be too far - he had summoned things from further away. Like coconuts. Harry had…

Something hit the lid with a dull sound, and both of them gasped. "Something..." Hermione started to say.

"It's the broom!" he whispered. It had to be. That was how the charm worked.

"What if it's a trap?" she asked.

"Then we're done for anyway," he replied. "But we can't leave the broom outside."

He opened the lid.

And smiled at the broom lying just outside the cave. It looked a little singed, but it was still whole. Harry could almost feel the broom's desire to fly again. Properly now.

"Now we've got a broom!"

*****​

Hermione Granger smiled despite their situation. A real broom! With working enchantments - she wouldn't have to guide a levitated pole or plank through the jungle any more! With a broom, they would be faster and more mobile - even with two people on it.

"Up!" Harry held out his hand, and the broom jumped into it.

"We need to get away as long as it's still dark," she whispered.

"Yes. Do you think we can fly through the wards with this?" Harry asked.

She nodded. "The wards on the village? Unless they need an amulet to pass through the protections, yes. Otherwise, using brooms would be very impractical. They would have to land at a gate or similar rallying spot and enter through it. But the wards on the island?" She grimaced.

"Too easy for a prisoner to escape and steal a broom?" Harry asked.

She bit her lower lip. The pirates hadn't chased the escaped French witch. So they must have been confident that she wouldn't escape the island. Not by swimming or flying - if she was a Veela. Although… "Do we want to risk it?" It was an option. They might have enchanted the brooms to work like the fishing boats. And should anyone attack them, the ability to pass through the wards, back and forth, would be a great tactical advantage. But…

"As a last resort?" Harry looked grim as well.

She nodded. If it didn't work, then the protections on the island would probably be nasty. And even a Stunner would be dangerous, even fatal, if you fell from a great height into the sea. Or if your Bubble-Head Charm ended before you woke up… She shuddered at the thought.

Harry took a deep breath. "Let's go then. Southeast. The hill will help block their line of sight."

"Yes."

They scrambled out of the hole, and Hermione put the lid back up, concealing their makeshift hideout. Better not to leave obvious tracks and examples of their tactics.

"Mount!" Harry was already straddling the broom.

She climbed up behind him, wrapping her arms around him. And suppressed a sigh when she pressed herself into his warm back.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

And they were off. Despite being weighed down by two people, the broom sped up quickly - and it was faster than a Hogwarts school broom. Quite fast, Hermione noticed as Harry flew close to the ground.

"Watch out!" she hissed when she saw that they were flying straight towards a fallen, burned trunk.

"I've seen it," he hissed back - but he kept going straight towards the trunk.

She gasped when he, seemingly at the last moment, pulled up to go over the trunk, only to hug the ground again. "Do you have to fly so low?"

"Yes! Just in case they have someone higher in the air."

"Would they really fly too high to see a floating marker?" Hermione tightened her grip on Harry's waist.

"Never know - every little bit helps!"

That sounded like something Oliver Wood would say. Hermione clenched her teeth and managed not to yelp when Harry rolled the broom to the side to pass underneath a tree canopy that was resting on a broken stump of a tree.

Harry on a broom was a maniac.

Then again, facing an entire pirate crew, they needed every little bit of help that they could get.

Oh, dear Lord! She was starting to think like him!

At least no curses rained down on them - and, as she kept glancing around, she saw no markers from her own Human-presence-revealing Spell appear. "We should be in the clear," she whispered.

"Better safe than sorry," he replied. And kept going at a breakneck speed.

They were now leaving the burned and shredded parts of the jungle. "Don't go into the jungle!" she hissed. At this speed, and in the darkness, they would ram into a tree in no time.

"What do you think I am, crazy?" he replied.

"Yes?"

She felt more than she heard him chuckle as he hugged the jungle's edge, flying between trees, bushes and the hillside. Still no pirates in the air or on the ground. And they were putting the hill between them and the village now.

But the sun was also starting to rise.

"We need a shelter soon," she whispered.

"I know… hillside?"

She bit her lower lip. The same hideout as before? It had worked, but would it work twice? But the island wasn't small - what were the odds of the pirates finding them without tracks for the dogs to follow? The sections of the hill suitable for digging horizontally into weren't that common, though. Still… It was probably the best they could do. "Yes."

They flew a little longer, but as the sky started to get brighter and a reddish glow appeared in the east, they found a steep part of the hillside, and Hermione began at once to vanish the earth and stones to create another cave.

Harry kept an eye on the sky while she worked. "As I thought, the broom's been painted in camouflage."

And on the broom, it appeared. She almost scolded him but gritted her teeth instead. Harry should know what he was doing - he hadn't let them down yet. Unlike herself, a small, ugly voice in the back of her head added as she finished the cave and started to look for a lid.

"Oh, right." She sighed. "We need to get some coconuts for food, again."

Harry muttered a curse.

She nodded in agreement with the sentiment. She was heartily sick of the things. But needs must - they couldn't fish or hunt with the pirates aware of their presence. "See any?"

"I'll be right back," he replied, mounting the broom and speeding away before she could answer.

Shaking her head, she pulled a piece of wood out from her pocket and enlarged it, then cut a few slits into it before starting to stick plants, rocks and earth on it.

Harry returned with two coconuts before she was finished. "I plucked them while flying, he said. "No tracks on the ground."

"Good." That would, or so she hoped, stop the dogs from finding them. She looked up. The sky was more blue than dark now. "Let's go hide."

They entered the cave - they had to crawl into it, but she had made the interior a little larger.

"Will that hold?" Harry asked, looking at the ceiling.

"I've used some wood turned into metal to strengthen it," she told him.

"But will it hold?" he repeated himself.

She bit her lower lip. "I hope," she said after a moment. "I don't know - this isn't a shelter with a thin roof."

He slowly nodded. "Guess we'll have to chance it."

"Yes."

He sat against the wall and held out one of the coconuts. "Bon appetit."

"You'll have to eat as well," she said.

"I know."

"Good." She nodded, then cut the nut open. "Do you want a sip?"

Harry shuddered, and she emptied the coconut on the ground before vanishing the milk and cutting the meat up.

She took a bite, grimaced and gave Harry his share.

*****​

"What now?"

Harry Potter put his… breakfast? - down and looked at her. "We've got a broom," he told her. "That means we have more options."

"We still have to break into the prison. And if we don't want to risk just flying through the wards - and that's risky - we still have to steal a fishing boat - from the beach of the village," she pointed out.

"But with the broom, we can set fire to the jungle here and quickly reach the village," he retorted.

"That only works if the fire serves as a distraction in the first place," she said. "And since they set fire to the jungle first, they might not be concerned enough about another fire to arrive in force."

He sighed. She was right. "Then we need a better distraction."

"Do you have an idea?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. But it needs to be convincing and urgent enough to draw a large part of the pirates away. Our planned distractions in the village itself should still work." Dropping enlarged spikes on the ship should draw attention. As should a horde of giant mice in the village.

She nodded. "But they won't really help us sneak into the prison undetected. Not with the entire crew in the village."

"Since they were so quick to set fire to the jungle, setting fire to the village wouldn't work, I think," Harry said. "Not that we would do that, of course.," he added quickly when he saw her expression.

She shook her head. "We should fake an escape attempt," she suggested. "If they monitor the wards, they should react."

"That's dangerous," he said. And crazy - they had no idea how lethal the wards were. But if they were a couple centuries old...

"Yes. But if the wards are just tied to a stunning curse or something similar, then I can take it, you drag me away and wake me up, and we move to the village while they search the sea," she suggested.

He stared at her. Was she suicidal? "And if it's not a Stunner?"

She pressed her lips together.

He frowned. "Would you let me test it?" he asked.

The glare he received in return told him enough.

"I guess that means no self-sacrificing plans." He grinned at her frowning expression.

"That goes for both of us," she spat.

"Of course." He wouldn't let her sacrifice herself.

She sighed. "We still need a distraction."

He mulled it over. Fire wouldn't work - not when the pirates used it so… enthusiastically. "What if we lay a fake track… lure them on a chase through the jungle? Add traps?"

He saw her purse her lips as she thought it over. "That might work - unless they just start setting the area on fire."

"If they do, then that should occupy them for a while," he replied.

"But they know we can fly - they saw us escape on the plank."

"Yes. But they found us with dogs," he retorted.

"The first time. They might've spotted tracks at the beach the second time. We weren't quite as careful when we thought we only had to worry about the wyvern. And will they chase after us at night or wait until daylight, when they have the advantage?" She cocked her head to the side as she tore into his plan.

He clenched his teeth for a moment. "If we can't rely on that, then we need to use one of us as bait." He looked straight at her. "On a broom, I can lead them on a chase. Draw them away from the village. If I start dropping spikes on the ship, they're bound to react."

She got it at once - he saw her glare at him. "You want me to sneak into the village and free the girl, then steal the fishing boat."

"Yes."

"And what about you?" She crossed her arms. "I'm not going to leave without you."

"I can circle around, lose them, and rush back to the village." He met her eyes.

She shook her head. "We need a better plan. We can't coordinate if we split up. I could be stuck in the prison, dealing with some protection, when you're coming back. Or we need to leave, and you're still being chased. It won't work."

It would be hers - and the girl's - best chance. Harry could try to flee with the broom afterwards, chance going through the wards. But the way she glared at him, he better not mention that. "Then I lead them away, lose them, and return, and then we enter the prison."

She slowly nodded.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

I love the mental aspect of this chapter it reminds me of the opening scene of all quit on the western front obviously its very different context from a army vs army trench warfare but the emotions of Harry and Hermione to basically artillery fire feels gives off a very desperate and confused vibe in reaction to the uncertainty of how many pirates there are and how to escape.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. They're kids after all. Still, they're kids and Gryffindors, so they might not be scared enough.

 

[Beyogi]

Yeah. They're kids after all. Still, they're kids and Gryffindors, so they might not be scared enough.

Click to shrink...

Yeah shows pretty clearly how they don't do the obvious thing now that they have a broom and leave the island.

 

[Starfox5]

Yeah shows pretty clearly how they don't do the obvious thing now that they have a broom and leave the island.

Click to shrink...

That would mean flying straight through the island's protections. Not a good idea hence they still want to steal a boat to pass through the wards.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 25: The Lure

Algiers, Algeria, July 17th, 1996

From the balcony of their suite, Fleur Weasley could see the slight shimmering effect that the spells that hid Magical Algiers in the middle of the muggle city had if you stared at the borders between the magical and muggle quarters. The spells that hid this festering boil.

She hated Magical Algiers. She didn't mind the heat - Egypt was, on balance, worse, and she spent a lot of time in the Valley of the Kings there. The architecture was similar as well - not surprisingly, of course, since both Egypt and Algeria were, if only nominally these days, under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

But where Egypt was a slightly backwater area, its claim to fame being the tombs of the pharaohs, attracting both tomb raiders and Curse-Breakers as well as the odd historian or two, Algiers was the centre of the Barbary Coast. Pirates from all over North Africa sailed here to sell their ill-gotten loot. And deal in slaves.

Slaves they kidnapped all over the Mediterranean, sometimes even from as far as the Atlantic Coast of Iberia and France. Wizards and witches, often children since those could be more easily caught and kept by the pirate scum.

And by their clients in the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan first amongst them. Fleur didn't believe for a second that the Sultan had stopped purchasing slaves kidnapped abroad, as his father had promised after Dumbledore had all but stormed his palace decades ago. The Ottomans had merely become a little more discreet, the raids of the pirates a little less frequent. But the Ottomans couldn't rely on their own country to supply their Janissaries and harems. Not with their Empire's provinces becoming more and more independent, unwilling to sell their children to Constantinople's markets.

Which left raiding Europe's coasts for slaves - a trade the Barbary Coast pirates had gladly engaged in for centuries, the increased danger after Grindelwald's War balanced by the increased profits.

She clenched her teeth at the thought of people taken from their homes and families, sold as if they were animals. Magical Algiers had a known slave market, all but doing their filthy business in public! Relatives of hers had been sold there! Just a few years ago, her family had driven off a pirate raid that had struck too close to the Château d'Aigle. If Gabrielle had been outside, far from her home…

She wanted to burn down the entire town hidden by magic. Salt the earth so the pirates would get the message. Clenching her teeth, she felt her anger grow hotter and closed her eyes. She couldn't transform. Not here. Not in muggle Algiers. And certainly not in Magical Algiers.

"Fleur?"

She blinked, then turned, a smile appearing on her face. "Beel." Her anger receded - as usual when she saw her Bill.

He put a tray down on the small table on the balcony. "Room service."

"Ah." She sat down and filled a cup with black coffee, then grabbed a croissant. Bill must have ordered - it was her preferred style. "You could've ordered an English breakfast," she told him. While she wasn't a fan of it, Bill had grown up with it.

He grinned. "Mum will feed us breakfast every day after this."

Fleur nodded. Her mother-in-law was a great if unfortunately very English cook. Fleur had made some inroads with more French dishes at family gatherings, but it was mostly limited to desserts.

"We'll find them," Bill whispered as he buttered a croissant of his own.

"Yes," she replied, though she wasn't convinced. Usually, the Barbary Coast pirates gave the British Isles a wide berth, unwilling to provoke Dumbledore, but that didn't mean British wizards and witches were perfectly safe. Sometimes, they were caught in raids on vacation, sometimes a pirate crew got greedy or too bold or simply made a mistake. And as long as no one knew who had done the deed… Who could say that the newest Janissary in training had been British, after Obliviation and a False Memory Spell? It wasn't as if even Dumbledore could inspect every harem or barrack in Constantinople. But if the victim was too prominent, if the consequences seemed too dangerous…

Who would ever know if a victim was killed and the body vanished without a trace?

No, the muggleborn girl, Miss Granger, could easily disappear into a harem or the Janissaries. But Harry Potter? Son of the Potters? Godson of Sirius Black? Personal friends of Dumbledore?

Fleur hadn't said anything, but they all knew that there was a chance that Harry was dead and vanished already.

Not that this would stop them. They would find the scum responsible. And they would save Harry - or avenge him.

*****​

Fleur Weasley once again checked if her cloak was concealing her face and form before entering Magical Algiers through the door hidden inside an arc. A few spells made sure it couldn't accidentally reveal her, but in light of the trouble being recognised, either as the Triwizard Champion of Beauxbatons or simply as a Veela, could cause in the middle of Algiers, she would rather be safe than sorry.

And having to do something helped with her frustration at the whole situation. "We should burn the whole cesspit down," she whispered.

Bill snorted, but Pettigrew shot her a glare. "Don't even joke about this!"

She glared back. "Who said I was joking?"

"It was a joke," Bill stepped in before the spy could say anything else. "We're all a little on edge."

She switched targets and scowled at Bill. She didn't need him to handle Pettigrew. Or make excuses for her; she could stand on her own.

He smiled in return, though she saw him wince a little for a moment.

"Well, in my opinion, the city could only be improved if a few sections of it burned down," Black said with a toothy grin.

"Sirius…" Pettigrew hissed.

"I know, I know, anti-fire wards will prevent this from happening despite our best efforts, and Fiendfyre would get the ICW after us," Black replied, sighing theatrically. "And we'd risk retaliation and blah blah. But a wizard can dream, can't he?"

Fleur nodded. She knew all the arguments - had heard them before several times. Though she also knew that the ICW cared only for the statute of secrecy. If only Dumbledore were willing…

"Let's go," Pettigrew hissed.

"Right, right!" Black stepped through the veiled gate with a smile on his face. Fleur, Bill and Pettigrew followed.

And they were in Magical Algiers. Fleur clenched her teeth and hunched over a little. They were here for Harry Potter, she reminded herself. And Miss Granger. Not to root out the pirate scum.

Not yet, at least.

They made their way through the bazaar, where Fleur kept some of the riff-raff from pulling on her sleeves - and possibly trying to pick her pockets - by drawing her wand.

"Don't buy anything, Sirius," Pettigrew muttered.

"Don't worry, I don't need anything… although this brooch looks nice, doesn't it?"

"Sirius!"

Fleur gritted her teeth. This wasn't the time for jokes.

Fortunately, they reached Amir's home without incident. The wizard was as congenial as last evening as he welcomed them, even though it was noon now. Fleur almost liked the man - he was a shrewd merchant and a deft hand with his wand in a scuffle, as he had proven in an encounter with bandits, but to live in Magical Algiers…

"Come in, come in! Have a seat! I've got good news!"

She perked up. Good news? Amir was quick to embellish, of course, but he wouldn't lie about good news.

"You found Harry?" Black blurted out.

Amir laughed in return as a servant served tea and coffee. "Unfortunately, no. But I might have a clue." The wizard smiled. "I took the liberty of spreading the rumours of Dumbledore being personally involved in the search for Mr Potter and looking at this town as a possible location of interest."

"And?" Black frowned.

"He's trying to smoke out the pirates who might feel guilty," Pettigrew explained.

"Exactly!" Amir grinned again. "And I am happy to report that as soon as I talked to my good friend Karim, the proud owner of the best café in Algiers, several wizards who make their living at sea, so to speak, left the café post haste. Karim wasn't happy, of course, but he understood that such grave news should be shared."

"Several pirates fled? Can we track them all?" Bill asked.

"We don't have to track them," Amir said. "We merely need to track the waves they make."

"Waves?" Black asked again.

"Not literally," Pettigrew cut in. "The effects on their suppliers and partners. If they leave Algiers earlier than planned, this will show up in changed orders amongst the merchants trading with pirates."

"Indeed!" Amir almost clapped his hand. "And I have friends in the right places. Coupled with my information about which crews were in port, I think there'll be interesting tracks to investigate."

Fleur knew that expression. "You already have a suspect."

Amir nodded. "Khalil Haddad. He is a middleman for the Ottomans. He has missed two appointments this morning - one with the Bey."

"And that proves he is involved?" Black didn't seem to think so. But he didn't look like he'd shy away from pursuing the matter, either.

"No. But he is quite likely to know about the status of various crews," Amir explained. "And if he is getting worried, then some of his contacts must be worried already."

"We need to have a word with the man, then," Black said.

"I can make the arrangements," Amir said.

"Don't stick out your neck too far," Bill told him.

"Oh, this isn't a risk - anyone can see that I'm helping to keep Dumbledore from paying our fair city a visit." Amir's smile widened. "And many will realise that, should anything happen to me, the likelihood of such a visit will increase."

Fleur nodded. She couldn't say whether or not that was true - but the wizards of Algiers would assume so since that was how things worked here. The strong and powerful protected or avenged their clients.

But she knew about Haddad. The man handled both ransoms and slave trading. She almost wished he'd attack them.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Afternoon. It was far from sunset, but noon was past. Hermione Granger could see the shadows on the ground slowly growing longer again. In a few hours, they would have to move out and start their attack.

She sighed. She wasn't happy with the plan that she and Harry had come up with, but she hadn't been able to think of a better one. And she'd had enough time to consider the matter in the time they had spent waiting - resting according to Harry - since morning. Even counting the hours she had spent napping.

To wait while the idiot risked his life luring the pirates away, betting on his - admittedly considerable - talent on a broom to lose them and return… she didn't like it. Not at all. But any alternative she had thought of - ambush the pursuit somehow, join Harry on the broom to send curses at the chasing pirates - was a worse plan.

She'd even considered abandoning the kidnapped girl and just taking the fishing boat and heading out, but… the pirates would realise that they were compromised, and they would flee and take the girl with them, or, even worse, kill her and vanish the body to hide any evidence of their crime.

Neither she nor Harry would be able to live with that. They had to save the girl.

Even though their plan was too optimistic for Hermione's taste. At least there was a chance that Harry would damage the ship enough for the fishing boats to be needed to support it, which should make it easier to steal one - or board one, to be technical.

She grinned. The thought of going pirate on the pirates had a certain charm to it. But then she reminded herself that they would have to fight pirates to take their boat, and any good humour vanished. They were students - admittedly, talented students if she said so herself - but they were facing experienced adult wizards. Pirates who had preyed on the shores of Europe all their lives. Harry's duelling experience and 'special training' by his godfather wouldn't help much, and Hermione, as much as she loathed to admit it, was worse at duelling than Harry.

Their only chance was to be sneaky. At least they had experience with that. In theory, having surprise on their side and the ability to pick the time and location for their attack should help. A lot, according to the books Hermione had read. But…

It wouldn't be the first time that a plan that had looked perfect failed when she had tried to implement it.

On the other hand, she didn't think their plan was perfect at all, so, perhaps… No! That was superstition. Things didn't work that way.

A small, weak part of her whispered that she should just hide. Keep hiding until someone saved her. Or surrender. They might ransom her, instead of…

She clenched her teeth and buried that part of her. She wouldn't hide and depend on others. She wouldn't abandon Harry or the girl. She would do her part. As well as she could.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Harry's voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up from where she was sitting in their small cave. Harry, sitting at the entrance, peering through the slits in the lid covering it, was looking at her. "You looked deep in thought."

She shrugged. "Just thinking of ways to improve our plan," she half-lied.

He nodded. "We've got our work cut out for us." With a smile, he added: "But we'll manage. They won't expect two fugitives to attack their stronghold. Not after we had to run from them."

That was because it seemed like a foolish idea. But she didn't say so. She nodded instead - thinking they would fail would cause them to fail. At least in Harry's case; Hermione was a little more realistic. But she wouldn't drag down Harry's mood either way.

He slid over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Trust me. We can do this."

"I don't doubt that," she said. They certainly could do it. With a lot of luck.

"But you're worried."

She glared at him. "You better be worried as well! This is dangerous." And he had the most dangerous part!

"I know. But we can do it. We've got a decent plan. And they won't expect us." He flashed her a grin. "And we can hurt them. Damage or even sink their ship."

She nodded. Even if everything went wrong, and she really didn't want to think about that, they would have taken some - admittedly small - revenge.

She leaned into him, wrapping her own arm around him. Sliding a little into his lap. Until she was facing him.

And their lips met.

*****​

Harry Potter sighed - softly; he didn't want to wake Hermione napping in his arms - and looked at the ray of sunlight shining through the slit in the lid. The sun was going down. They still had an hour or so left until sunset. A little longer until it was sufficiently dark.

He would have to colour the broom black - no, dark grey, probably - for it, he reminded himself. And his clothes as well. He might even smear some ash on his skin.

He sighed again. He hadn't told Hermione, of course, but he was worried. Their plan was dangerous. It was difficult to hit a wizard on a fast broom, even more so at night, but it wasn't impossible - you just had to be lucky. Or unlucky, in this case. If Harry just had to escape, he wouldn't be worried. But he had to lure the pirates away. That meant making them think they could catch him.

And that meant he would have to stay in sight, in range of their spells for quite some time. The pirates would have a lot of opportunities to be lucky.

He closed his eyes. Hermione probably knew it, anyway - earlier, when they had done it again, she had felt a little…. desperate. Just a little too… as if this was the last time they could be together.

No, he told himself. This wouldn't be the last time. They would beat the pirates, escape the island and return home. With the broom, this was assured as soon as they passed through the wards - all they had to do then was to fly east until they hit land. Mum and Dad would find them. Probably before they reached the coast.

Then they would be home. Back with their friends and family. Back… He clenched his teeth. Things would change. They wouldn't be alone again. Not just the two of them, on an island, any more.

What if this was just stress? Just…

He gently squeezed Hermione.

He didn't want it to be. He didn't want things to return to normal. What they had been before. He wanted to…

He clenched his teeth. He almost wanted to stay on the island with Hermione.

No. That was foolish and selfish. And stupid.

They would get away. And get back home.

*****​

An hour later, the sun had set and Harry Potter finished colouring the broom and his clothes dark grey. Mostly.

"You might have to slightly recolour them depending on how cloudy it is," Hermione told him.

"This is for evading over the jungle," he explained. "Not for hovering above the ship." She was about to open her mouth, and he grinned. "And no, once they start hunting me, I won't have the time to recolour anything on the fly - or flight."

Hermione frowned, then nodded. "I'm still not happy with your plan to evade them."

Harry smiled as confidently as he could manage at her. "It'll work." He doubted that the pirates would be able or willing to chase him into the jungle. "And it worked before."

"A levitated plank can't go nearly as fast as this broom," she reminded him. "Don't go all out," she added with narrowed eyes.

"I won't." Unless he had no choice.

She didn't seem to be convinced. "If you fly into a tree or rock in the darkness…"

"I won't," he repeated himself.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"You better not," she whispered, taking a step towards him to hug him. "Or I'll kill you myself."

He snorted almost against his will as he hugged her back, taking a deep breath with his eyes closed and his face pressed into her shoulder and her hair.

"Let's get ready," she said after a while. "Before it gets too dark."

"Alright," he agreed, releasing her - and resisting the urge to hug her again.

"Do you have the spikes?" she asked.

He bit back on a sarcastic comment - Hermione was just nervous. "Yes," he said, patting the robe serving as an improvised pack. "Shrunken and turned to lead."

"Good." She nodded, seemed to hesitate, but then turned away and went to check the cave for anything they might have left behind.

He sighed and watched her, in her shorts and top, another improvised robe-pack slung over her shoulders. If only…

She returned. "The cave's clear. All that remains is camouflage."

"Right." He nodded and grabbed the ash they had prepared. It's like sun lotion, he told himself as he got ready to smear the stuff on himself - and on the parts of Hermione's skin she couldn't reach.

And there was a lot of skin on her to be covered.

*****​

Hermione Granger felt dirty. Literally. Her arms and legs and midriff, most of her back and even her face - everything was covered in sticky ash, smeared all over her. She wanted to cast a dozen cleaning charms to get rid of it. At the least.

But since she couldn't cast a Disillusionment Charm or had access to an invisibility cloak, this was the best they could do for camouflage. And they needed every advantage they could get.

At least putting the stuff on had been… enjoyable. When Harry had done it. And she had done it for Harry.

She sighed. She had to focus - she couldn't dwell on fantasies. They were on the way to the pirate village already. Sitting on the broom, behind Harry, she could see the dim lights of their target. "Set us down a little away," she said.

"I know," Harry replied. Well, he should - they had gone over that. But it was better to verify than to assume anything. Especially when it was a matter of life or death. Which attacking a pirate village most certainly was.

She clenched her teeth and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. They had to do this - this was their only chance to escape. That didn't make it any easier, of course. She wanted to close her eyes, hug Harry, forget about everything else and just fly on, to freedom.

But that was impossible. Instead, she studied the village as they approached. The lights looked like during their first visit. Did the pirates think that they had killed Harry and Hermione and were back to normal? Or was that a trap? The ship looked the same as well. Could the pirates really burn down half the island and just keep going on as usual in the village?

It was possible. Would they expect the same people who ran from them and barely escaped to attack them? Probably not. But they didn't know for sure.

They would find out soon, of course. The hard way.

Harry set down about a hundred yards from the edge of the jungle, at the foot of a slight ridge. "This will serve as a landmark," he said.

So he could find her quickly when he returned - every second would count. She nodded. "I'll watch from the ridge." It wasn't perfect - she could only observe half the village, the other half hidden by the trees - but she would have the ship and the prison in view.

"Alright."

They stared at each other for a moment, Harry on the broom, Hermione standing on the ground. She could barely make out his face in the dim light, but it was enough. She leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed back. She shivered. If this was the last kiss they ever shared… No! They would make it. They had to.

Then she broke the kiss and pulled back, licking her lips as she stared at him again. "Don't…" She trailed off. 'Don't die' was a stupid thing to say. "Don't take too many risks," she said instead.

He nodded, flashing a grin. "Don't worry."

She scoffed - once. Of course she'd worry. And he had to know it. Just as she knew that the idiot was going to take risks.

He nodded, then shot into the air on his broom.

And Hermione cautiously climbed on top of the ridge to look at the village in front of her - the parts she could observe, at least. In a couple of buildings, the lights were still on, but not on the ship. Would Harry be able to hit it from high in the air? It was a big, stationary target, she reminded herself. And Harry could hover.

She looked at the prison. That building was also dark - if anyone was present, other than the prisoner, then they would be asleep. Or laying in ambush, she suddenly thought, clenching her teeth. She had to keep that in mind when breaking the girl out.

The tavern - the presumed tavern - was busy, though. That didn't seem to indicate an ambush. Unless the pirates were counting on that… She scoffed again. Trying to second-guess the pirates would lead her nowhere. Besides, once Harry started dropping their giant spikes on the pirate ship, any ambushers would probably surge out of their hiding spots and give chase.

That was the plan, after all.

The fishing boat was at its usual place. Good. That would've been embarrassing to miss halfway through the night. But… was that shadow near it someone walking towards it? Or past it?

Past it, she realised as the figure passed a spot of light on the road. Good. Now… how much longer until Harry started dropping the spikes?

She tried to spot him, but it was too far, and the sky too dark.

Exactly as planned, she told herself to try and bury her annoyance. And her worry.

This has to work, she told herself again even as she bit her lower lips, fretting. This will work.

*****​

Harry Potter took a deep breath and looked down again. The tiny dark shadow that was the pirate ship was directly beneath him. Well, almost. He nudged his broom forward a little, then turned it towards the village and backed off a yard… one more. Yes.

Now he was directly above the ship.

He licked his lips briefly. This was it. This wasn't a duel. Or hallway fight. This was it. Once he started his attack, he - they - would be committed. Do or die. Literally.

He took another breath and swallowed. Could he do this? Did he have an alternative? He shook his head. No choice but to go forward.

Clenching his teeth and holding his breath, he reached into his pack and pulled out one of the shrunk spikes. This would be tricky.

"Finite!" he whispered, and the spike grew to the size of a small tree trunk, slipping out of his hand at once. He flicked his wand.

"Engorgio!"

Halfway to the ship, the spike massively grew. A second later, it hit the ship's deck - he heard the crashing noise it made as it slammed into - and hopefully through - the wooden planks.

Harry released his breath and grabbed the next spike.

"Finite. Engorgio."

"Finite. Engorgio."

"Finite. Engorgio."

Three more spikes fell, two hitting the ship, one getting deflected by the mast and splashing into the water, before he heard the first shouts.

The pirates had noticed the attack.

Clenching his teeth, he grabbed the next spike.

"Finite. Engorgio."

Another miss. He cursed under his breath and moved the broom forward, then banked to the side.

"Finite. Engorgio."

This one hit. Was the ship tilting to the side? Three spikes had gone into the right side of the deck.

"Finite. Engorgio."

Something - someone - was moving below. Pirates on brooms.

"Finite. Engorgio."

A spell flew up towards him - no, too far away. No prob…

It exploded in a bright flash of light, and Harry cursed as he shielded his face with his hand. What the…?

He blinked. He was almost blinded. No. He still had some spikes left. But he couldn't see the ship below. But the pirates wouldn't be able to see him, either. So...

Another spell rose from below. He closed his eyes at once. Even so, he could tell when the spell went off - it was so bright.

He glanced down - he was still above the pirate ship.

"Finite. Engorgio."

Another spike hit the ship. Harry blinked again - yes, the ship was tilting to the side; he could tell from the mast.

Six spikes left. That would be…

He took the broom into a dive, barely evading a yellow curse flying past him. They had seen him. A green curse flew overhead as he banked to the side. Other spells followed. He should keep his altitude, but more curses flew towards him - and this broom wasn't as good at climbing as his own.

He needed speed, and that meant more diving. Gritting his teeth, he banked again, then dipped down once more, spiralling downwards like a struck plane.

At mast height, he pulled out of his dive and pulled to the left, passing the ship's stern. He pointed his wand at the ship. "Reducto!"

The spell hit the hull and exploded, but Harry had to bank to the right before he could see if it had done any damage - the pirates were chasing him now.

He pulled up slightly, two red curses passing below him, and then turned left, circling around the ship. Two more Reductor Curses hit the ship, and he thought he saw splinters fly through the air in the light cones from the pirates' spells on the ship and in the air.

Half a dozen pirates were on their brooms now - at least - and three more were on the deck, all sending curses at him whenever they caught sight of him. Or when they thought so; he could see a few curses veering wildly into the night, not even near him. And even when they caught him in a cone of light, he was too fast to get hit.

But that wasn't a good thing - he couldn't lead them away like that; they would abandon the chase too soon.

Gritting his teeth, he turned left again, then shot straight up. One curse almost hit his shield, two more went wide.

He drew a hissing breath, then reached into his pack again while rolling to throw off their aim.

"Finite. Engorgio."

He didn't check if he hit - he kept climbing. If he sunk the ship, that should make the pirates mad enough to…

Another blinding light went off near him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, weaving back and forth randomly while his eyes were useless. How did the pirates avoid blinding their own with that spell?

Panting, he levelled out, still flying as fast as he could in random patterns. Where were the pirates on their brooms?

Another light went off - above him. He cocked his head, grimacing, and glanced up, squinting at the blinding light.

And saw six curses flying straight at him from above.

Harry rolled and veered sharply to the right, dodging the volley of curses, but they kept coming.

And the light hadn't gone out. How was that possible?

More curses flew at him. One clipped his Shield Charm.

He pulled on his broom and turned sharply to the left, then started climbing.

How could they see him and not be blinded by that bright light? He could barely look up without seeing stars!

He weaved, dipped and veered, curses missing him left and right as he climbed higher and higher. Another one hit his shield, shattering it. He was too close to the pirates, then.

Harry dove down again, recasting the Shield Charm, then pulled up as sharply as before. That threw off the pirates' aim again, and he gained more altitude. He just had to get above the pirates and...

It was a searchlight, he realised. A magical one - like the spells they had used the night before, just even more powerful. No wonder the pirates weren't blinded! They could just keep shining that light on him and follow up with curses.

Not even climbing higher than the pirates would help.

He gasped - what was he thinking? This was perfect! He wanted them to chase him, didn't he? And with that, they would be able to.

Baring his teeth, he entered a dive, rolling and weaving as he shot towards the ship.

Not that it mattered now. Harry had to lure the pirates away; that was all that counted.

The water below him grew closer. He ignored the curses flying by and focused on the sea. It was just like a Wronski Feint - if he mistimed his flight, he would crash.

He wouldn't. He was the best Seeker in England in decades.

Almost.

A green curse missed him by what felt by inches. He kept going down.

A brown curse flew by, hitting the water below.

Almost.

A yellow-purple spell went wide.

Now! He pulled on the broom's shaft with all his strength, pushing up. He was still going down, though, and the water was growing even bigger. He wouldn't… he would!

He pulled the broom out of the dive and into level flight a moment before he would have crashed into the sea - his shoes hit the top of a wave, almost throwing him off the broom.

Yes!

He clenched his teeth, elation filling him for a moment, as he flew on - straight towards the pirate ship. This wasn't Quidditch; no one was trying to get a snitch.

But they were trying to get him. And if they were as focused on him as an opposing Seeker…

He pulled the broom up some more, clearing the ship's railing by a foot at most, and shot across its deck in a split second.

When the spells which missed him hit the ship, he was already in the clear. He pulled to the left again, looking back for a moment, and grinned at the sight of the struck ship covered in smoke.

He wanted to cast an Amplifying Charm and yell 'Gotcha!', but the cone of light from that searchlight spell caught him again. He immediately jinked to the right, then climbed up and pulled to the left again as a new barrage of curses flew past him.

More than six, he thought. And with the one casting the searchlight spell… still not enough. They needed a dozen gone, at least. And they were close again. If they got too close, they would have a much easier time hitting him.

Scoffing, he pulled up, over, then corkscrewed down and swung around, making another run at the ship, which had lost its mast by now. He weaved left and right, the waves behind him churning with the impact of more curses, as he lined up the broom.

Then curses flew at him from the ship, coming far closer than the ones sent at him by pirates on brooms. He cursed as he jinked, only to have his shield shatter once more when a Cutting Curse slashed into it.

Harry bent over the shaft, feeling the heat as a bolt of fire flew over his head, and pressed on. He rolled, jinking back and forth, as spells from above, behind and the front crisscrossed around him. Another curse barely missed him - no time to recast his shield now - before he flew across the deck of the ship again, and more spells from the chasing pirates slammed into the hull.

Hah!

He pulled up and to the left again, recasting his Shield Charm, and started to climb up some more to get a better picture of the situation.

He didn't manage. Two cones of light caught him, and far too many curses followed, forcing him into desperate evasive flying.

It was too much - he had to escape now. No, lure them away.

He gritted his teeth and dived once more, levelling out at the last moment, then shot towards the village. A barrage of red curses - Stunners, probably - followed him, with one yellowish curse splashing against the house closest to him - someone still hadn't wised up to his plan. Or they just didn't care about others.

He passed overhead - a few more curses went up from the ground, but not many - and then hugged the earth as he flew towards the jungle.

As soon as he left the village, the curses rained down again - the pirates were still chasing him. Though none of the pursuers had managed to catch up to him, he noted. And this looked like a dozen. Plus two with searchlight spells.

Good. Now all Harry had to do was survive until they were far enough from the island, then lose them while making them think he had gone to ground there before returning to Hermione.

That shouldn't be too…

The jungle in front of him blew up as half a dozen curses struck the treeline, pelting his shield with fragments and splinters. One hit the broom, and he had to struggle to keep from crashing.

"That's my tactic!" he snapped through clenched teeth. "Bloody copycats!"

That meant he had to either fly high enough that the enemies wouldn't be able to hit the trees to cover him with splinters - or low enough they couldn't see him in the jungle.

There was no choice - he had to lure them away. And he couldn't cross the ridge where Hermione was hiding, or she might be caught in a blast. Or by a stray curse.

Scoffing, he climbed to double the jungle canopy's height as a dozen curses flew after him.

"Let's see how good you really are in the air!"

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 26: The Prison Break Part 1

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 17th, 1996

Sirius Black scoffed as he looked at the small manor in front of him. Unlike others, Khalil Haddad obviously lacked any style. The building was gaudy, the decorative ornament overdone, and the whole house felt cramped - as if one had forced a far larger palace into a space too small for it. "We should just break in," he said. "Grab the man and question him."

Peter, as expected, sighed. "The palace's protections are too strong, Sirius."

"We've got two Curse-Breakers and you," Sirius retorted. "And it's not a palace." Palaces were bigger.

"The wards are too strong to bypass, much less take down, quickly enough to avoid notice," Bill cut in.

"Oui," Fleur, of course, chimed in. "While I would love taking down this fils de putain, we can't do it."

"Well, not without more preparations," Bill added.

"Oh?" Sirius perked up. "Do you need gold?"

"Time, mostly," Bill said.

"It's not practicable," Peter pointed out. "Let's talk to the man and see if we can get what we want without starting a war."

"It wouldn't be a war." Sirius scoffed. "The Bey would disavow the man in a heartbeat if it meant avoiding a visit from Dumbledore."

Peter, the spoilsport, shook his head. "The Bey can't afford to show too much weakness. And if we attacked Haddad unprovoked, then he can't let that go. And Dumbledore can't be seen to bail out raiders just because they're British. And French," he added with a nod towards Fleur. "That would weaken his stance against raids in general."

"Pirate raids and punitive raids aren't the same!" Fleur protested.

Sirius nodded in agreement.

"We don't even know if Haddad is involved in anything that would justify a punitive raid - at least in the eyes of the ICW," Peter retorted.

"He's dealing with slavery and kidnappers," Fleur pointed out. "And he buys slaves for the Ottomans."

"Which is legal here, in the Ottoman Empire," Peter told her.

Sirius scoffed. "Kidnapping isn't legal, though."

"That's harder to prove. Which is why the pirates are so nervous. And why we need to be a little more careful, so the pirates won't panic and make Harry and Miss Granger disappear."

Sirius sighed. Peter, as usual when it concerned such shady things, had made a compelling argument. "We can still hope that Haddad will attack us."

Fleur nodded emphatically.

"Let's go then! It's already late!" Sirius exclaimed.

"It's not really late - not for Algiers. This is when much of the business is being done," Bill said. "It's cooler in the evening."

Sirius scoffed. "That's what cooling charms are for."

"Those are a relatively new invention - people here lived for centuries without them," Bill replied.

"As my dear unlamented mother proved, blindly following tradition is a recipe for disaster." Sirius shook his head. "Anyway, let's go!" Bill and Fleur's friend had arranged a meeting for them, after all.

He strode off towards the door. He was a Black, and that meant something.

Behind him, Peter sighed. He was such a worrywart. It came with being a spy - all that hiding and sneaking around wasn't good for you. Sometimes, all you needed was a quick wand and a quicker curse.

*****​

Haddad's manor was as gaudily decorated inside as its outside led one to expect. It made the guards - and there were plenty of those; Sirius Black had counted four in the entrance hall and two more that escorted them to Haddad's salon - stand out. Not the best strategy, unless it was just a feint, and the wizard had more subtle defences. That was how the Blacks used to do it - as mother had been fond to say, it was the hidden curse that got you.

Or they were fresh hires and hadn't had time to adapt.

"Good evening."

And their 'gracious host' was very nervous. It could be an act, but… Sirius didn't think so. What would the man gain by acting as if he were nervous? Was he trying to lure them into attacking him? That would be a little too obvious - no one would fall for such an obvious trap.

"Good evening, Mr Haddad. Thank you for your invitation." Sirius bowed - in the British manner. He was a Black, after all.

"I could hardly refuse a request from such illustrious people, could I?" Haddad laughed, but it sounded fake. Could he really have been shaken so much by the rumours of Dumbledore planning a visit? He was involved in the slave trade, yes, but was there more behind this?

Sirius smiled and leaned forward a little, eyeing the four visible guards - and looking for additional traps and guards. Perhaps the servants or slaves bringing refreshments were more than they appeared to be?

While Bill talked about the weather, because you couldn't just come to the point in Magical Algiers even in the midst of a crisis, Sirius studied them. They didn't look like assassins just waiting to curse him and his friends - but then, assassins rarely did. But they also didn't look like slaves kept in line with threats, punishment or spells. On the other hand, Haddad wouldn't risk being embarrassed by a slave. Certainly not when he had visitors from Britain and France in the middle of a rather delicate diplomatic situation.

Slaves or assassins? Or both, like the Janissaries? Haddad might not be the official representative of the Sultan, but he certainly had quite some influence at court, and at least the unofficial protection of the Sublime Porte, the government of the Empire, thanks to his services in procuring slaves. It would stand to reason that he might be protected by slaves raised from childhood to serve as guards.

So, if negotiations failed, who should Sirius take out first? The visible guards or the slaves? He couldn't just kill the slaves, of course. Even if they might be assassins. Killing slaves would be… They were here to save people, not to kill slaves who didn't know better.

Stunners for the slaves before they could react, then the guards. Who might be slaves as well, of course, but you had to draw the line somewhere, and Sirius preferred to draw it where people wielded wands against him in service of a slaver without being under a spell.

Besides, Fleur would burn the guards at the first chance, and Bill would help her. Peter would secure Haddad.

"...and yes, the tea is excellent, Mr Haddad," Bill said, lifting his cup with a smile that almost looked sincere.

"I had it imported directly from the Burgher Kingdom," Haddad replied. He didn't look as nervous as he had been at the start. Perhaps there was something to this idle chatting.

"Part of Ceylon," Peter whispered as if Sirius hadn't known that - he might not care for his family's views on muggleborns, but mother had taught him all about tea. Still, he inclined his head as if he were impressed.

Fleur, of course, sniffed, showing she wasn't impressed - then again, she was French and preferred coffee, so her taste in tea wasn't exactly relevant.

Haddad might have noticed her mood, though, since he cleared his throat. "But enough of my meagre efforts as a host. You come to me in the middle of a delicate situation. There might be a lot of misunderstandings. Possible misunderstandings."

Sirius grinned. "You mean about Dumbledore's favourite students - my godson amongst them - having been kidnapped by pirates based in your country?"

Haddad's face froze in a fake smile. "That is one of the misunderstandings I mentioned."

"We know that the Portkey that took them led to the hideout of a gang of pirates from the Barbary Coast," Sirius told him.

"That, ah, might have been the case when the Portkey was created, perhaps."

"'Perhaps'?" Sirius didn't think the man was merely speculating.

"The Ottoman Empire, as you certainly know, doesn't condone piracy. Hence, those unscrupulous criminals have left our country and taken up hiding in other countries while they ply their despicable trade."

"Such as kidnapping children whom you then buy for your friends in Constantinople," Sirius said.

"I would never be party to enslaving kidnapping victims. That would break the Law of the Sultan." Haddad's claim wouldn't have fooled a muggle under a Confundus Charm.

Sirius showed his teeth. "Dumbledore would really like to have all his students at Hogwarts when school starts again."

The Ottoman wizard twitched. "I see. And when would that be?"

"September First."

"Ah." Haddad nodded. "Quite the concern. Although I can assure you that I haven't heard of any, ah, attempts to pass on British students as, ah, natives."

Sirius sighed. "Let's stop playing games. Which band of pirates has my godson and his friend?" He ignored Peter's whispered 'Sirius!' and Bill's sudden, hissing breath. "You know something."

"I can assure you that I don't know anything about this." Haddad shook his head, but he was sweating now. And the guards had tensed. As had the two slaves ready to refill their cups, but then, that was to be expected whether they were assassins or not.

"Do you really want to risk Dumbledore taking charge of this himself? You would make a great scapegoat for your 'friends' at home. A slaver who acted without the Sultan's knowledge, broke the law…" Sirius shrugged. "Whatever favours you are owed wouldn't be enough to risk another visit of the Vanquisher of Grindelwald, would it?"

Haddad stared at him for a moment.

Sirius had his wand in hand, twirling it as if he were merely idling. But a flick would send a Stunner at the closest slave, followed by a nastier curse at the guard behind her. And he could almost feel Fleur's rage burning brighter.

Then their host sighed. "I may have heard some rumours about a band of criminals having... difficulties."

Sirius blinked. What did he mean?

*****​

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Hermine Granger bit her lower lip so hard, she expected to taste blood any moment. She couldn't help it, though - Harry was fighting for his life in front of her eyes, and she wasn't doing anything to help him.

She was hiding and watching as the entire pirate village hunted him, curses flying after him whenever those huge cones of light caught him. Which was far too often, in her opinion - the pirates knew how to use those spells.

Modified Wand-Lighting Charms, she assumed. The pirates had used them before, when they had been hunting Harry and Hermione in the jungle, though she didn't remember the spell's effect being quite so powerful. This wasn't a flashlight-like spell but a searchlight. Which, she reminded herself as Harry managed to skip into darkness, a pirate ship - or any ship - would need, so it made sense someone would have created such a spell.

She should've anticipated that, too. Instead, she had blindly assumed that the pirates didn't have better spells than the ones they had used before. That had been sloppy. Sloppy and stupid.

And now Harry might pay the price for her stupidity. She held her breath as Harry was caught in the searchlight's cone again - and pulled up sharply instead of flying lower to use the jungle as cover. What was he doing?

Flying southwards, as planned, of course. But too high. He was probably doing this so Hermione wouldn't be at risk of being detected by anyone's Human-presence-revealing Spell, but it meant he was in more danger.

She gasped when she caught a glimpse of a pirate on a broom in the light, followed by another. They were chasing after Harry. As planned.

She turned her attention to the village again. And the ship in the cove, which was listing heavily. The spikes must have holed her several times. And the pirates had trouble fixing her. Which was a little surprising - Mending Charms should work, after all. Unless the ship was warded against such spells. But why would you do that? Although… if it was an old ward, and the ship did look old, then chances were, it had developed some quirks. Interactions with other spells were common in such cases.

She bared her teeth. Served the pirates right! If they lost their ship, then that should put a stop to their raids - at least for some time.

Hermione looked at the prison. She couldn't see any lights there. If everyone was focused on saving the ship, then they should be able to break into the prison without resistance. But escaping with a fishing boat would be more difficult as well. Or even impossible - if their next distraction didn't work.

All was moot, though, if Harry didn't make it back to her.

She didn't want to think about that. Not at all. But she couldn't help it - and she had to plan ahead. If they caught Harry and locked him up in the prison, would she be able to free him? She doubted it. Even if the planned distractions with conjured enlarged animals worked perfectly, the pirates' numbers would be too large to draw all of them off to fight the animals, leaving her able to break into the prison.

No, if Harry were captured and she had to rescue him, then she'd need a more… effective distraction. She'd have to set up a danger to the village that couldn't be ignored and would draw every pirate to fight it.

And that narrowed down the available options quite considerably. Harry and she had gone over alternatives to the current plan already. This was the most effective distraction they had been able to think of.

The alternatives left were… questionable. Very questionable.

She pressed her lips together. She could think of only one way to distract all the pirates.

Fiendfyre.

She knew the incantation - she'd found it in some of the older books she had bought last year. She had never attempted to cast it, of course, but it wasn't supposed to be difficult to cast - just to control.

And Hermione wasn't planning on controlling the fire. Start at the opposite end of the village, unleash the cursed fire, and then use the chaos as the pirates tried to hold it back to evacuate the buildings in the eastern part of the village to sneak into the prison.

But Fiendfyre would ravage the entire island. With the pirate ship in danger of sinking, would the pirates even have the means to evacuate? Did they have enough brooms and smaller boats to save everyone? And would Harry, Hermione and the girl be able to steal a boat in the first place when everyone would be trying to flee?

If she was honest, then Hermione had to admit she didn't think so. The best they would be able to do was to swim for it. Somehow.

And there was a significant chance that pirates and their families might perish in the fire. Could she risk that?

She clenched her jaw. She didn't know.

But if they killed Harry…

*****​

They were doing all they could to kill him, Harry Potter knew. He rolled and banked, then swooped down towards the jungle, pulling up again after a quick dive - just in time to avoid the blast from another curse blowing up the trees below and behind him.

Something appeared in front of him, and he pulled to the left, rolling, as a bird of some sort hit his shield and splattered all over it. Harry winced at the gore dripping from his Shield Charm and dived towards the jungle's canopy again.

The pirates were getting creative. He had to find a way to lose them, and quickly. He pulled hard to the right, managing to escape the cone of light following him for a moment. It dipped low, then up, and caught him again.

So, they expected him to dive for the jungle. Well, that was his plan. He just had to figure out how to avoid getting shredded when they sent Blasting Curses after him. He glanced over his shoulder as he weaved back and forth, avoiding a barrage of curses. Over a dozen brooms behind him, judging by the number of spells flying past. Sooner or later, one of them would get lucky, and his shield wouldn't stop it.

Time to roll the dice and go for the Snitch, then - he was far enough from the village so Hermione would be safe. He snorted at the thought that she would kill him if she knew what he was doing. Then again, he might just save her the bother if this went wrong.

Taking a deep breath, he dived again. A green curse missed his shield by a hair's width, and more spells flew past before he reached the trees below him.

And kept going, straight through the dense foliage. Twigs and branches splintered as his shield ploughed through them. A trunk appeared in front of him, and he barely managed to turn enough to miss crashing into it.

Then he was through the canopy, above the underbrush. He kept going, veered to the side to avoid another tree trunk, then went even lower - he couldn't fly too high, or they would easily track him with spells. And he couldn't slow down, or their Blasting Curses would get him. He had to speed up. Any moment, the jungle would blow up.

He bared his teeth as he flew straight into the underbrush, his shield shattering when a particularly thick branch was broken, and pulled hard to the left, turning as tightly as he managed. He almost crashed into a trunk on the way, sliding past it close enough to rip his trousers, and finished his turn. Then he urged his broom forward, back towards the village. Back towards the pirates flying above him. No time to weave. No time to slow down. He could just fly and hope he didn't hit a tree.

And hope that the pirates' next Blasting Curse wouldn't hit until he was clear.

He gasped when he burst out of a bush and a trunk loomed ahead of him, throwing himself to the side, pulling the broom with him, wrenching the shaft left with all his might and weight. The tip of the broom cleared the trunk by inches.

His foot didn't. He heard a sickening crack and was thrown off-course as he careened to the side, smashing through some denser underbrush, losing speed, the pain… the pain…

The jungle blew up behind him, the brief flash of light illuminating the jungle in front of him - and the trees.

Harry bent over, tried to ignore the pain from his mangled foot, and flew as fast as he could, by memory rather than sight.

At least for the first two dozen yards.

Then he was flying blind again. And through underbrush that would blind him anyway. He had to slow down.

He didn't.

He barely avoided another tree, sent into a spin by his frantic evasive flying, then shook his head. He had to… where was north?

Another explosion told him where south was, and he turned and sped off again. A little slower, this time. And gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain from his foot. Broken for sure. Probably multiple times - he remembered the match where Malfoy had bumped him into the Hufflepuff stalls.

Were the trees thinning out? It looked like it. That meant he was close to the coast now. So, he would have to turn west, towards the village. Probably.

He kept going until he saw the surf of the beach in the dim light of the stars. Yes! And the pirates were still blowing up the jungle to the south.

Now he had to hurry to Hermione.

*****​

Hermione Granger could still hear faint explosions from the southeast. That meant the pirates were still chasing Harry. Or trying to kill him. If they hadn't already done that without noticing.

No! Harry was alive. He was following the plan - lure the pirates deeper into the jungle, then lose them.

He had to.

She bit her lower lip until it hurt. He had to be OK.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down. Focus on the village below - the pirates still hadn't repaired the ship. And the prison was still dark. Now all she needed was for Harry to return, and...

"Hermione?"

She whipped her head around. "Harry?" she whispered before she could help herself.

"There you are!"

She saw him about ten yards away, guiding his broom towards her. "I got lost a little," he said.

She didn't care - she rushed to hug him before he could dismount. "Harry!"

He was alive. The pirates hadn't caught him. Or killed him. And he was… "Are you alright?"

"Ah…"

She hissed and took a step back, pointing her wand at him. "Where are you hurt?"

"It's mostly just scratches."

"Those can get infected if not treated, and… 'Mostly'?"

"I hit my foot."

She clenched her teeth. "Show me."

He didn't step on it when he dismounted, she noted. And even in the dim light available, she could see that his shoe had been torn. The force to cause that… She pressed her lips together. He must be in great pain.

She prodded his foot, and he hissed in response. "That hurt," she said.

"Yes."

"I have to check it more closely," she told him. "I should vanish the shoe, but…" They didn't have a replacement. "I'll cut it off. We can mend it." After she mended his foot.

A Cutting Charm took care of the mangled shoe and sock. Then she could finally examine - as far as she was able to, at least - his foot.

And it didn't look good.

"I think it's broken," she told him. "I can mend the bones, but…"

"But?"

"I can't do anything about torn ligaments or tissue," she replied. Other than casting some small healing charms to stop the bleeding. Which she did now.

"As long as it's not broken any more." He was trying to make light of it, of course.

"You won't be able to walk on it."

"Oh, I can transfigure a cast. Sort of. I'll be able to walk."

"But the pain…"

He shook his head. "Just mend the bones. The pirates won't blow up the jungle for much longer."

Right. She took a deep breath, then pointed the wand at his foot. "Brackium Emendo!"

He sighed - though it sounded like a hiss. "Thank you."

She didn't answer. The foot was swollen, and she couldn't do anything about that. Harry couldn't even pull the shoe on, she realised. And he wanted to walk on it? Had to walk on it, she reminded herself, if they wanted to escape. "Stay on the broom," she told him.

"I'll try."

She nodded. "Let's go!"

Hermione mounted their broom behind Harry, carefully keeping her foot away from his. "Let's start conjuring and transfiguring the animals now, before enlarging them, she said." At least, in the darkness, they'd be safe. Relatively.

"Yes," Harry said in a tense tone.

She raised her wand. "Avis! Avis! Avis!"

A swarm of birds appeared, flying around her. They were waiting for her directions, unlike the mice Harry would be creating from pebbles and bits of wood.

But now to enlarge them. "Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio!"

Soon, the sounds of flapping wings made talking in low voices impossible.

And beneath them, a horde of giant mice was forming. Though the first mice were already wandering off. "We need to make them move to the village!" she said, then repeated herself, raising her voice.

"Set the forest on fire!"

Was that his solution to everything? She shook her head. "I've got a better idea." She focused and waved her wand.

And her giant birds started diving at the enlarged mice, driving them towards the village. Soon, a veritable stampede of squeaking, panicked mice entered the village, followed by screeching birds the size of large eagles. Or extinct eagles.

And Harry and Hermione were on the way towards the prison.

*****​

His foot was still hurting, of course - the bones might be mended, but everything else was still a mess. But Harry Potter had to bear the pain. For Hermione's sake - if she thought he couldn't stand it, couldn't pull his weight… who knew what she would do? Harry didn't, not exactly, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good thing.

At least, as long as he was on the broom, he didn't need his foot. And it didn't hurt much like this.

He guided the broom along the edge of the village. Outside the range of the lights lit in the port - half the buildings had the lights on. And the ship was brightly lit - several pirates were flying around it with some Wand-Lighting Charms, and more were on the tilting ship. That would be a decent distraction by itself.

Halfway to the prison - still dark - he heard shouting from the eastern part of the village. They must have noticed the birds and mice. "Not very attentive," he commented.

"That might change now that they are aware they're under attack."

Right. Perhaps they should've skipped the distraction and just sneaked into the prison - but what was done was done. Second-guessing yourself in the middle of something was generally a bad idea, as Sirius had taught him. They just had to press on.

And, he added silently, since the screaming and shouting was still going on - and growing louder - the distraction was working as planned anyway.

"They're split between the swarms and the ship," Hermione whispered into his ear. "We won't get a better opportunity."

He nodded in return and urged the broom on, approaching the prison from the west, using the building itself to block the rest of the village from seeing them.

"Bring us to the window on the first floor!" Hermione snapped.

He flew up though he couldn't help wondering if she had said that to keep him on the broom. "I can't keep an eye on the village like this," he whispered.

"And they can't spot us," she retorted. He heard her whisper: "Avis!", and another bird appeared and instantly grew into a huge size. "That's to test for additional protections once I remove the bars."

They had gone over that before, but he knew that Hermione liked explaining things.

"Evanesco!"

The bars didn't vanish. Harry flicked his own wand. "Evanesco!"

"It must be charmed against it," Hermione replied. "We could try to dispel it, but…" She pointed her wand at one bar, and a Cutting Curse hit it.

Harry cocked his head. There was a cut in the metal - about a third of the diameter had been cut. "That seems to work," he commented.

She didn't answer but started casting more curses in quick succession. Harry followed her example. After a minute or two, the bars began falling to the ground.

Harry caught all except the first with a Levitation Charm. "The shouting's dying down," he said. "They'll have dealt with the swarms."

"We could redo them," Hermione suggested in a whisper as she cut the last bar.

"They'll realise it's a distraction then. Let's go in before they finish!"

"Wait! I'll send my bird in!"

The bird - larger than any eagle Harry had ever seen - landed on the windowsill, folded its wings to fit through the opening - and exploded in a cloud of gore and feathers. Several bits and pieces struck Harry's Shield Charm and fell down on the ground.

He cursed. That was a potent curse. Old wards - dark, too.

"I can't dispel that curse, certainly not quickly enough," Hermione whispered. "We'll have to go through the wall."

"It'll be protected against the Vanishing Charm."

"But it might not be protected against Reductor Curses," she retorted.

Harry snorted almost against his will. That was… "They'll hear us for sure," he told her.

"Do you have a better idea?"

He didn't. "We need a distraction for the blasts, though," he said, turning his head and looking towards the sea. "We'll start casting Reductor Curses at the ship and at the edge of the village. Then we fly down and break into the prison." The pirates would be too busy protecting their ship and their homes to worry about the prison.

"Alright. But hurry."

He pulled on the broom's shaft, and they quickly rose above the prison. The village was brightly illuminated now. And the eastern end of it was shrouded in smoke.

"They didn't just dispel them," Hermione muttered.

Good for them, Harry thought. That meant the pirates weren't as smart as they had feared. "I'll take the ship. You take the buildings!"

"Alright."

Harry cast his first Reductor Curse, sending it against the pirate ship's hull, followed by another before the first spell hit.

The curses detonated, causing more yelling and screaming. A moment later, more explosions followed from the village.

Harry quickly started flying in random search patterns, to throw off the pirates trying to track them, and cast two more curses.

"I can't aim like this!" Hermione complained.

"You don't need to aim - you just have to hit the village!" he told her.

"What if I hit someone by mistake?"

He didn't have an answer for that. None that he liked.

But they had no choice - he couldn't stay in place, or the pirates would track them.

He cast another curse at the ship - he hadn't seen much damage so far, but the pirates acted as if the ship was sinking, or so it seemed - then started to fly back to the prison. Halfway, he cast a Ventriloquism Charm to make it appear as if they were above the eastern edge of the pirate village.

Time to find out if their plan had worked.

*****​

"Surrender! We have sunk your ship! You cannot escape any more!"

Hermione Granger gritted her teeth at the yell coming from behind them. Really? Where did Harry get his dialogue from? Action movies?

She twisted, turning her upper body, and pointed her wand at a house straight at the edge of the jungle. Her Reductor Curse hit it and exploded against its side, followed by another that hit the trees next to it.

Too late she realised what kind of splinters this would send flying. If anyone had been outside without a Shield Charm… They are Pirates. Slavers, she told herself.

They flew over the prison, and she sent another Reductor Curse back, this time aimed further into the jungle. That would, or so she hoped, make the pirates think they were still attacking from that direction.

Harry brought the broom to a stop in front of the window they had opened, hovering in mid-air, using the prison as a shield.

Hermione swallowed. "Watch your Shield Charm," she whispered. Then she sent a Reductor Curse straight at the wall. Splinters and brick parts flew as a small cloud of dust obscured the impact. She didn't wait to check - the curse wouldn't have gone through the wall - and sent another at it. And a third. Harry started casting as well. Fragments pelted her shield, but it held. Harry was moving a little bit away from the prison, though.

"Keep us close," she told him, "the wizards on the ship can see us otherwise."

He guided the broom back, and she sent another curse at the wall. A moment later, the dust and smoke cloud was blown away - Harry had cast a spell.

The wall had been cracked - but the hole wasn't big enough to crawl through, much less fly. She aimed her wand at the sides, widening the gap with a few more quick curses while Harry did the same on the other side.

Almost wide enough to enter… But it was taking too long.

"We need to send a few more Reductor Curses at the village," Harry told her.

"Alright. Take us up."

He tilted the broom back - she had to grab his upper body to keep herself from sliding off - and moved up, towards the edge of the roof.

Right before he reached it, though, he dipped down again. "Broom riders. Too close."

She gasped. No. Their distraction… wouldn't work any more. "The pirates have returned?"

"Must have," Harry said in a flat voice. She felt him take a deep breath. "Alright." Another deep breath. "You crawl through the hole. Get the girl. And then sneak to the beach to steal the boat."

"No!" she hissed.

He went on as if she hadn't said anything. "I'll lure them away. I'll… lose them and return to the point where we hid to observe them."

"No!" She hugged him more tightly. "That won't work."

"It's our only chance."

"It's suicide!" His suicide.

"If I don't lure them away, they'll get all of us. And you can't fly as well as I can."

She dug her fingers into his shirt. "No!"

"Please." He grabbed her hands and tried to pry them loose.

"No! We need a better plan!" One that didn't involve the idiot sacrificing himself.

"We don't have a better plan."

She wouldn't let him kill himself. Not like this. Not at all. But he was right - they didn't have a better plan. And the longer they waited, the higher was the chance that someone flew close enough to spot them.

But she couldn't let Harry do this. Not now. Not when they were so close. There had to be another way! If only they could… Oh.

"We shrink ourselves - and the girl. And we hide," she told him. "They'll think we've escaped already, and they'll look for us on the island."

"That's too…"

"Not any more dangerous than your plan." At least for him. "And you wanted to do this, didn't you?"

She felt him tense up, then sigh. "Alright."

And despite the fact that she had not too low odds of killing herself with her plan, she smiled.

"Let's go in!" She reached for the battered edge of the hole in the wall. If the ward covered this as well… She closed her eyes and grabbed the stone, then pulled herself over, quickly scrambling through the hole.

She didn't die.

"Come on!" she hissed to Harry. Any moment, a pirate could fly over the prison and spot them - or his spell could detect them.

He guided the broom into the hole, bent low over it, and managed to squeeze through - with just some tearing against the ragged bricks. And some bumping of his mangled foot that made him grimace in obvious pain.

Hermione acted as if she hadn't noticed. "Come on." She hurried through the hallway to the cell she remembered from their earlier visit.

The girl was in her cell, curled up in a corner, shaking with fear.

She was afraid of them, Hermione realised with a sinking feeling. Oh, no! They were still covered in ash and soot! "Mademoiselle?" she whispered. "On est venus pour te sauver!"

The girl froze. She understood French, then. Good. "Qui êtes vous?"

"Hermione Granger et Harry Potter." She started cutting the bars around the lock of the cell. Harry quickly joined her.

"Vous n'êtes pas des pirates?"

"Non." One bar cut. Still no alert outside. Maybe they would be able to escape…

Another bar cut. Hermione and Harry worked together on the third, which quickly gave way as well, and she pushed the door open. "Viens!"

The girl dropped her blanket and trotted over. She was wearing slightly tattered robes. Silk ones, though.

"I think we can escape now - they haven't noticed us yet," Harry said.

"Unless they're waiting for us to leave," Hermione said. "Like the wyvern."

"That's not sure," Harry said. "Might be safer than shrinking us."

Follow the original plan and escape on the broom? Or risk shrinking themselves and hide and wait?

Hermione bit her lower lip.

What should they do?

*****​

 

[silentorphan]

Sirius blinked. What did he mean?

Click to shrink...

Sirius: "It's impossible for them to have evaded capture for this long! I mean, I love Harry, but he's just not that capable. And Miss Granger is...Miss Granger."
*hundreds of miles away*
Harry: "I suddenly have the urge to use a Blasting Curse on someone..."

Halfway to the prison - still dark - he heard shouting from the easter part of the village.

Click to shrink...

Should be "eastern"

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 27: The Prison Break Part 2

Algiers, Algeria, July 17th, 1996

"So… someone is hunting pirates," Sirius Black summed up their new information as soon as they were back in their hotel room. "And that's all we know. We don't know who, why, or where."

"We also know who they are hunting - which band of pirates," Peter added. "And we know their approximate location."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Approximate, as in 'somewhere along the Moroccan Coast'. And it's a hidden island."

"Which would fit what we know about the Portkey's location," Bill pointed out. "If Dumbledore didn't manage to find the kids, then they have to be in a hidden place - and a centuries-old pirate island perfectly fits the bill, doesn't it?"

It would figure that the Curse-Breaker didn't realise how little that would help. "And how are we supposed to find them if the island is hidden?"

"By finding out from those who have visited the place before, of course," Bill replied with a grin.

Fleur nodded with an almost feral expression. "They'll talk."

Sirius sighed. "Yes, so we have a chance - a chance, mind you - to find this hidden island. But we don't know if it is the island Harry and his friend were transported to. All we know is that a mysterious force of wizards is attacking the pirates." And as talented Harry was as a duellist, he had never fought for real. Sirius had fought in the war; he knew perfectly well that being a good duellist didn't help as much as most duellists thought when you had to fight outside the ring and without rules.

"Actually, we only know that the pirates think that they're under attack because someone killed their pet wyvern and spied on them," Peter corrected him again.

Sirius frowned at him. "You think that's Harry's doing?"

Peter shook his head. "I'm just trying to keep you from jumping to conclusions." With a small smile, he added: "Harry's a great wizard, but killing a wyvern? And spying on pirates? Lily and James taught him better than that."

"I'll have you know that I taught him everything he knows about duelling and pranking," Sirius protested. "And my godson is certainly a talented student!"

"Talented enough to kill a beast that is nearly as dangerous as a dragon?" Fleur shook her head. "I think not."

"I'm not saying that it was Harry!" Sirius protested. "But I'm not saying that it's impossible, either."

"So, you think there's a chance that Harry's on that island?" Peter sounded as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

Sirius glared at him. "It's theoretically possible. But Haddad thought that we're behind the attacks. And we know that none of our friends are doing it." They'd better not, he thought. If any of his friends started something like this while Sirius was stuck in Algiers...

"You think they're bounty hunters?" Bill asked. "There isn't a reward for the kids' safe return, is there?"

Sirius nodded. "Not officially, but people know there would be a reward." Really, not rewarding people for saving your children or godchildren simply wasn't done. "But Haddad also mentioned that the pirates had a 'hostage'."

"Yes. Céline de Ciel." Fleur spat the words out. "I know of her family."

"And they could've hired bounty hunters." Peter nodded. "We don't have any evidence that Harry and Miss Granger are on that island, but it's the closest we have to a trace. And we know that none have admitted to having 'found' the kids."

"So…" Bill grinned. "We don't have anything better to do, then?"

Sirius sighed. "No, we don't." At least they would be doing something, even if the chance that Harry and his friend were on the island was low. Hell, Sirius hoped that the two weren't on the island - otherwise, there was a decent chance that the wyvern had killed them already. "So… we're going pirate hunting."

"Good." Fleur flashed her teeth.

Peter nodded. "I'll go and see what I can dig up. Haddad left us with some leads."

Sirius blinked. "He did?" He didn't recall that. Fleur and Bill looked confused as well.

His friend grinned. "Well, while you were talking to him, I took the liberty to look around."

Sirius frowned. "You didn't go to the bathroom, did you?"

Peter inclined his head. "Now that would be telling." He straightened, growing serious. "I've got a few names that seem promising." He pulled out a sheet of parchment and dropped it on the low table in the lounge. "I think I'll be needing some backup for this. Just in case those pirates have more friends here than I expect."

Sirius's grin matched Fleur's. Cursing some pirate scum? That sounded much better than sitting around and waiting for someone else to save Harry.

*****​

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 17th, 1996

Waiting. While Peter had the time of his life spying in the harbour tavern, they had to wait outside, in the cold, for a signal that might not ever come.

Leaning against a corner leading into a dark back alley, Sirius Black sighed. As loud as he could.

"Shh," Bill told him quickly and predictably.

"No one's going to hear us," Sirius told him. "There's no one around to hear us. And if they did, they wouldn't hear me over the noise from the tavern."

"That's no excuse to be sloppy," Fleur added in a whisper. "We're surrounded by pirate scum."

"A target-rich environment," Sirius joked.

Both of them frowned at him - obviously, they weren't familiar with the saying. Well, Sirius only knew it because Harry had heard it from his cousin.

"It's not funny," Fleur said, a little louder. "Those… crapules… have kidnapped so many of my family and compatriots."

"Well, not all of the sailors in the tavern are pirates," Bill pointed out.

"Pirates, friends of pirates, business partners…" Sirius shrugged. "Seems one and the same to me. And if anyone attacks us, we'll deal with them. And with whoever might help them."

"And Peter's target escapes in the confusion," Fleur retorted.

"Or he captures the pirate in the confusion." Sirius grinned. "Peter's a very good spy." He had infiltrated the Death Eaters under the Dark Lord's nose, after all.

"Yes. So… let's relax," Bill spoke up. "If everything goes well, we'll just leave without fighting anyone."

Sirius nodded. Though he would much prefer fighting someone.

Then he felt the mirror in his pocket vibrate. Once. Twice. Three times.

It seemed he would get his wish. "That's our signal!" he snapped. "Let's go curse some pirate scum!"

He rounded the corner, casting an Anti-Apparition Jinx on the tavern as he rushed towards it. Before he had crossed the street, an explosion shook the building, blowing out all the windows on the ground floor - a few shards even bounced off Sirius's shield.

The door was pushed open next, two figures stumbling out, looking over their shoulders - they were still looking at the scene behind them when Sirius's Bludgeoning Curse smashed into them and slammed them into the wall.

"Careful, we need our man alive!" Bill snapped, sending a stunner at a wizard trying to climb out through the window. The man collapsed, blocking the exit. Sirius reached the door and crouched down next to it. A flick of his wand conjured a cloak, and a wave sent it fluttering into the open door.

Three curses hit it before it fell to the ground, ripping through it and setting it on fire.

Fleur retaliated by sending a few fireballs through the far windows. Bill didn't tell her off, of course! Smart man.

But Sirius had a job to do. He leaned to the side, just far enough to catch a glimpse of the inside - which was filling with smoke - and sent a Reductor Curse into the ceiling, then swung around and cast another Bludgeoning Curse at the two wizards who ducked under the splinters raining down at them.

They broke the table behind them, and a yellowish curse - an Entrail-Expelling Curse! - hit his Shield Charm. Snarling, Sirius hit the scumbag trying to kill him with dark curses with a Blood-Boiling Curse. Dark wizards didn't deserve any mercy!

The man started screaming as his blood began to cook him alive, and Sirius used the distraction to slip into the tavern. A Stunner caught a pirate trying to push the unconscious pirate stuck in the window out.

Where was Peter? There! He saw his smaller friend duel a broad-shouldered pirate and moved to assist. His Cutting Curse shattered the man's shield, and the pirate quickly dove behind the bar. Sirius grinned as Peter suddenly seemed to disappear and sent a few more Reductor Curses into the mirror behind the bar and the ceiling above it until he saw a red flash behind the bar. A moment later, Peter reappeared from where he had sneaked past the pirate as Wormtail.

"Got him?" Sirius asked while he used a tripping hex to stop a charge of a pirate wielding a sabre of all things - was that a squib?

"Yes." Peter pulled out a card and dropped it. "And gone."

That meant the Portkey had worked. Time to vacate the premises, then.

Not that there was anything or anyone left to fight, anyway - Fleur and Bill had taken care of the rest of the pirates, those who hadn't fled at the first sign of trouble.

But the Bey's guards would soon arrive, and Sirius would prefer to avoid an international incident.

He knew everyone would blame him for it.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Risk shrinking themselves - and the little girl - or risk a pirate ambush outside the prison? Harry Potter clenched his teeth. His first urge was to use the broom to fly all of them out. "Would the pirates prepare an ambush? Without checking if we're actually still here?" Which would be the natural thing to do - if you found a hole in your prison, you checked if someone escaped.

"They might already know that thanks to alarm charms or similar spells," Hermione replied. She was biting her lower lip.

"'Might'," Harry retorted. "Or we could be worried about nothing and wasting time while they're still dealing with our distraction." He should just take the chance and find out. With his mangled foot, he couldn't do much else. But if Harry did that, Hermione probably wouldn't...

"We can't underestimate them. We did that already and almost got killed for it," she said.

But overestimating an opponent was a bad idea as well - if you counted on them realising an obvious ploy only to do something else, and they didn't spot your feint… But then again, this wasn't a duelling match. If they misjudged the pirates, they were dead. On the other hand, if they bungled the Shrinking Charm, they would wish they were dead. And they were running out of time.

He looked straight at her. "Can you do the charm?"

She hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

He took a deep breath. "Then let's do it." He dismounted the broom, standing on one foot, and shrunk it with a wave of his wand.

Hermione took a deep breath - he saw her chest heave - and pointed her wand at herself, then stopped.

"Do me first," he told her. She was better at casting spells outside a duel.

Their eyes met. He nodded at her.

"Alright." Clenching her jaws, she pointed the wand at him. And cast.

For a single, horrible second, everything shifted. Then everything grew. No - he shrank. The floor turned into a square, covered in rough stones. And he was standing next to giants twenty times his size. Or more.

He tore his eyes away from Hermione's huge form and checked his body. Everything seemed to be OK. At least he didn't find anything obviously amiss.

Then the girl shrank as well, almost disappearing from sight. Harry quickly grabbed his broom - now properly sized relative to him again - and flew over to her. "Are you alright?"

She was trembling. Panting.

"Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" she asked.

"What? We shrunk you so we can fool the pirates," he explained. Or tried to - the girl didn't speak English. And they hadn't told her what they were doing.

Damn.

Then Hermione shrank. And the short step she had been away grew to what looked like over two dozen yards. "Uh…" Harry looked at the girl. "Come on, let's join her!"

"Quoi?"

Right. He pointed at Hermione. "Let's go to her." Wait… "Allons-y?"

"Harry!" Hermione was already on the way to them. "We need to hide, quickly - whether or not the pirates are already aware of our break-in, they'll soon enter!"

That meant they had to go downstairs and find a hiding spot where a Human-presence-revealing Spell wouldn't show their presence - where the markers would be hidden in a wall or a piece of furniture. "Alright," he replied. "Hop on the broom. And tell her that, too!" They couldn't leave a trace on the ground for a dog to follow.

"Mont!" Hermione said, pointing at the broom. "Entre nous."

They mounted, the girl sitting between Harry and Hermione. He felt her short arms wrap around his waist before he guided the broom up.

With three people on it, the broom wasn't very much faster than their levitated pole had been, but it was easier to control - and Harry could use his wand to blow the air around, hopefully diffusing whatever trace a dog might follow through the air.

He rose until about a foot high - almost ten yards, or so it seemed - and then raced towards the stairs. The girl - they hadn't asked her name, had they? - shrieked, but Hermione muffled her.

And not a moment too late - he could see movement outside the building through one of the windows on the ground floor. "Find a tall armoire," Hermione said. "There should be one in the guards' room. We can hide beneath it."

He rose as they reached the floor - no need to fly too close to the bottom and leave an easy track for the dogs - then tried two cells before they found a room with an actual armoire. It looked old, with carved ornaments.

And enough of a gap beneath it to comfortably let them hide underneath it. "Bend over!" Harry snapped, then guided the broom under the armoire.

Shouting and yelling in a language he didn't understand was heard from above them, and the girl cringed and clamped on to him, but they were safe. For now.

*****​

Hermione Granger held her breath when she heard the sounds of giant steps coming closer. This had been a stupid idea. They weren't safe - at their size, even a small dog was a deadly threat. A huge monster. And the pirates...

The girl whimpered when a giant boot appeared in the doorway - they couldn't see much more from beneath the armoire - and Hemione pulled her closer. "Ne t'inquiète pas!" she whispered.

But the girl kept sniffling. Which was perfectly understandable, of course, given what she had suffered through so far.

The pirate stepped into the room, walking around. Each step made the ground tremble, and his muttered words almost hurt her ears.

Hermione swallowed, then clenched her teeth. If the pirate looked under the armoire…But he didn't. The boots left again.

"That was close," Harry whispered.

"We were lucky," she said. "So far, at least."

They heard more shouting and yelling from the floor above and from outside. More giant pirates stomped through the room. They sounded as if they were arguing, though that was a mere guess - Hermione didn't understand the language. She couldn't even identify it, though a logical deduction would point at Arabic.

Not that it mattered.

"They'll soon tire of searching an empty prison," Harry said. Then we can sneak out and look for the boat."

"If we expose ourselves, a spell might detect us," Hermione retorted. "We have to wait until they aren't looking for us any more. They will assume we have disillusioned ourselves, and that will make them extra vigilant." At least she would be if she were in place of the pirates.

"We can't stay here too long," Harry countered. "And they won't expect us to stick around."

"We don't know that," Hermione protested, though Harry was probably correct. And yet… they couldn't afford a mistake. And the pirates would be patrolling the village. "We have to wait a little longer until they relax and assume we're gone for good."

"But not too long. We…"

Barking interrupted Harry, and Hermione gasped. A dog. If a dog had found their trace… if the dog tracked them, even the dullest pirate would check under the armoire! "Use your spell to disperse the air some more," she whispered. Every little bit would help.

Harry looked a little pale as he nodded and swished his wand.

Hermione barely kept from biting her lower lip until it bled - blood would certainly attract a dog. Especially one trained to track people. But even Harry's spell might not be enough to sufficiently disperse their scent.

The little girl - she needed to ask her name, Hermione realised - was shaking again, whimpering. And latched onto her arm. This wouldn't… She took a deep breath.

Then she heard footsteps, loud ones. And… there was the dog. Its paws, at least. And its nose, down on the ground. Headed towards them. No!

She froze for a moment. They could leave their compromised hiding spot, return to their natural size and overpower the pirate and the dog. But they would be cornered - there were more pirates around. And shrinking wouldn't work any more. Even if she managed to shrink everyone without mistake once more.

The sudden barking made her gasp - and gag from the dog's hot breath as it tried to push its snout under the armoire. For a moment, she saw the wyvern's maw open up and shuddered. They were… No!

"Harry! Transfigure a mouse, now!" she snapped.

The pirate was saying something - asking the dog what it had found, probably. Any moment now, the man would kneel down and peer under the armoire.

He dropped a piece of coconut from his bag, then waved his wand, and the piece turned into a tiny mouse - which promptly tried to run away from them and the dog.

But Hermione was already casting her own spell. "Engorgio."

The mouse, almost out from underneath the armoire, suddenly grew to - relative at least - giant size. A moment later, it was out on the floor.

And the pirate cursed. At the dog, presumably.

The dog was still barking, but the man cursed it again.

A moment later, the dog was dragged away by its leash. His paws were scratching the floor as he tried to get at the armoire, right up until the pirate closed the door behind them.

Hermione sighed with relief. "That was close," she whispered.

"Yes. But we fooled the pirates. Once again." Harry, still astride the broom to keep from having to stand on his mangled foot, sighed as well.

Though the girl was still trembling and sobbing. Hermione patted her head. "C'est bon - on est sécure pour le moment," she tried to reassure her. "Quel est ton nom?"

She had to repeat the question twice until the girl replied. "Céline. Céline de Ciel."

*****​

Sitting on the broom, Harry Potter gritted his teeth as Hermione talked to the girl - to Céline - in whispered French. He was so useless! With his foot mangled, he couldn't stand well, much less run. He didn't speak French - well, not much - so he couldn't help explain their situation and plan to the girl. And he couldn't even scout at the moment since they were locked in a room with a dozen pirates outside looking for them.

At least he could do magic, he thought - Céline was too young to have a wand. No, that was a stupid, selfish thought. If Céline were older, they could give her their spare wand and would have three wands to deal with the pirates.

But he doubted that the girl could cast even a Wand-Lighting Charm. Which would be a good idea, actually - he could barely make out anything in the dim light from the small window. On the other hand, no light meant that they would be spotted if they created a light - though, given their current size, a Wand-Lighting Charm might be mistaken for a glow-worm or something.

Harry remembered reading about that - something about magic and Shrinking Charms affecting each other, but the Enlargement Charm not doing the same. Which meant making yourself grow to a giant's size wouldn't let you throw around giant-sized Reductor Curses. Hermione would probably know why things worked that way.

"I've explained to Céline what we'll be doing," Hermione said.

"Good!" He grinned, though he wasn't sure she could see it in the darkness. "Now, you just have to explain the same to me."

She snorted. "We'll have to wait until they stop searching for us."

"That might take too long," he said.

"We can wait a day - we have enough food," she countered.

"A day? The pirates know we're a threat to them - this is their secret base, after all," Harry said. "They can't let us escape… Oh."

"Oh?"

"If they think we already escaped, they might evacuate the island before we might return with reinforcements," Harry said.

Hermione gasped. "But… wouldn't they already be evacuating then?"

"They might not think we've escaped." Harry nodded. "Hence, we might not be able to wait them out."

"And if they evacuate, they might take the fishing boats with them." Hermione sighed. "So, we can't wait until they evacuate, or we risk getting stuck on the island until the pirates return - at which point we're back to square one. And we'll have missed the train to Hogwarts."

"The other possibility is," Harry told her, "that they want to know how we managed to get onto the island in the first place."

"Would they risk an attack for that?" Hermione asked.

"If we were going to attack them, why wouldn't we have done it with more people?" Harry pointed out. "It wouldn't have taken too much effort to hire a few mercenaries, I think." At least the stories Uncle Peter sometimes told him and Rose featured wands for hire regularly.

"So… We have to assume that they assume that we're stuck on the island," Hermione summed up. "That means they won't give up looking for us. And they might have a decent idea that it's just us two - they saw us, if at night and from afar, before."

Harry nodded in agreement. "They might even suspect it's us if they know about the Portkey."

Hermione shook her head. "If they had suspected that, they would have started their search for us much sooner. They know that there's two of us - at least we have to assume so - but they won't have identified us."

"Yet," Harry said. "But if they do…"

Hermione nodded. "...they might want to erase all traces of our presence."

Which included their presence. "They might want to obliviate us and then claim they saved us for a reward," Harry suggested.

"Do you think so?"

Harry scoffed. "After we did our best to sink their ship? No. They'll want revenge."

"So, we're committed then." Hermione nodded once more. "We need a plan to reach a fishing boat without being caught."

"Tunnelling?" Harry shrugged. "If the building isn't protected against it, it's an option."

"We'd dig blindly, and there's the risk of getting spotted when we return to the surface. Or we dig into the sea. We wouldn't drown, but we would be in the same position - they might spot us before we reach the boat." Hermione said.

"We only have to get out of their spells' range," Harry said. If the broom weren't much slower, relatively, we could just fly up and be away before they realise what happened." But as it was, they would be caught while shrunk. Or cursed if they returned to their normal size.

"There has to be a way to escape from this prison," Hermione insisted. "We'll have to take a look outside."

*****​

Their original plan wasn't feasible any more. Hermione Granger was well aware of that fact. They had no chance at all to grab a fishing boat and sneak out while the pirates were distracted - even if they shrank it and took it with them on the broom, to drop it into the water outside the cove, odds were they would be spotted on the way, now that the pirates were actively looking for them. And they would likely notice a missing boat. "We need a way to get a boat without being noticed," she said.

"Unless they're stupid, they'll keep an eye on them. They might even have trapped them," Harry pointed out. And the pirates weren't stupid, as they had proved before.

"If we manage to leave a decoy in place of it…" Hermione shook her head before she finished her thought. "No. We can't create a convincing boat." Stupid. And they hadn't even thought of a way to get out of the prison without being spotted. "Let's take a look outside - through the window."

"Alright." Harry nodded and let them mount the broom - they weren't leaving Céline alone under the armoire.

Harry took them up and onto the windowsill, remaining on the broom while Hermione dismounted and moved to the window proper - hidden by its wooden frame. Any marker from a Human-presence-revealing Spell would float too high above her head to be visible through the window, either.

Unfortunately, that was it for good news. Hermione pulled herself up and peered through the window, but what she saw confirmed her fears. The village outside was brightly lit by spells of all kinds, and she saw two pirates on brooms fly past, with more on the ground. The area between the prison and the beach wouldn't offer any cover.

"The ship's a loss, I think," Hary commented next to her, on his broom, Céline clinging to him.

Hermione took a look. The ship was on her side, mast and rigging in the water. "They might be able to save her," she said. "Ships have been recovered and raised in worse conditions. And without magic."

Harry muttered a curse under his breath.

"It might be a good thing for us," she told him. "That should keep the pirates busy. If all of them were free to hunt us down…"

"Right." He still sounded as if he preferred it if the ship had been sunk. She could understand it - sinking the pirate ship would have been a blow against their filthy business.

"But we need to find a way to get out of here - and to the shore," she repeated herself. "Before they either save or lose the ship."

"There are a lot of pirates out either way," Harry retorted.

"Don't even think about trying to draw them away," she hissed.

He didn't flinch, But the way he pressed his lips together… She sighed and shook her head. "I can't do this alone," she said in a lone voice.

"Qu'est-ce qui ce passe?" Céline asked.

"On est en train de décider comment on va fuir l'île;" she told the girl.

"What?"

"I told her we're looking for a way to escape the island," Hermione said.

"Vous n'avez pas de plan?"

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes. "On a eu un plan." They'd had a plan. It hadn't been perfect, but it had been a plan. They just needed to adjust it. Significantly.

"Pouvez-vous nous déguiser comme pirates?"

Disguise themselves as pirates? Hermione drew a sharp breath. It sounded ridiculous, straight out of a cheap movie, and they didn't have any Polyjuice Potion, but… "Je pense qu'on peut faire ca. Peut-être."

"What did you say?"

"Céline suggested disguising ourselves as pirates," Hermione told him. "I think it would work - if we can capture one or two pirates and take their clothes."

"They'll see through our disguise. We don't have Polyjuice Potion," Harry replied. "And we don't speak the language."

"We only need to reach the boat and sail away," Hermione retorted. And if we move at night, they won't see our faces." It was bright enough outside to spot anyone walking around, but not bright as day. And while the village was small, there should be enough residents so that most people wouldn't realise they were a stranger without seeing their face. Especially with the distraction of a sinking ship and a burning jungle and animal attacks.

"They'll still stop us - at the very least, they'll ask what we are doing with the boat," Harry pointed out. "They might suspect we want to desert. And once they take a closer look…"

Hermione pressed her lips together. "Then we need to capture a pirate and convince him to come with us to avoid such trouble."

"And how can we prevent them from shouting for help - or telling them about us while acting as if they're playing along? We don't speak their language," Harry said.

"They won't do it if they're too scared to cross us," Hermione replied.

"That's a rather risky bet you want to take."

"I know. But what else can we do? A distraction won't work again. Or not long enough for us to get away with the boat," Hermione retorted. "Unless… if we cause a distraction that sends everyone into the air, then someone already on a broom, disguised as a pirate, wouldn't look out of place!" She smiled. "You could land at the boat, shrink it and take it with you before anyone realises it. Without us weighing the broom down, you could outrun them."

"And you?" Harry stared at her.

"We'd stay shrunk. At least until we're on the boat - far from prying eyes on the other side of the island." She licked her lips. It was still dangerous - and they still needed to ambush a pirate without alerting the other, somehow, unless… "Oh. We need to see if there's some laundry hung out to dry! Then we don't need to capture a pirate!"

Harry frowned, but he was mulling it over - she could tell. And she could also tell that he was coming around - he usually made that face when he'd really liked to find a fault but couldn't.

"We still need to find a way out of this building," he finally said.

Hermione frowned as well. He was, unfortunately, still correct about that.

*****​

They couldn't just fly out of the building - the pirates would be expecting them to disillusion themselves, which meant every pirate would have the Human-presence-revealing Spell cast. Harry Potter knew that. He still wanted to fly - he felt safest on a broom. Even when his foot wasn't mangled. On a broom, he was in control. He didn't have to depend on anyone - and he could outfly anyone.

"We could attempt to summon clothes for a disguise," Hermione suggested.

"I would have to unshrink for that," Harry said. "And the pirates might spot clothes flying through the air. If we had seen such clothes in the first place to summon them."

Hermione frowned with a pouty expression, and Harry smiled a little - he was sure that she was not just annoyed because her idea didn't work, but because he had pointed it out to her. His amusement didn't last, of course - they were still in a bind. They needed to get away. "We could start a fire here," he said. "Create lots of smoke - we could escape in the confusion." It worked for escaping the wyvern, after all.

"There won't be too much smoke, and the pirates would wonder why anyone would set an empty prison on fire," Hermione retorted. "Even if they don't, they would probably use Water-Making Spells from above and afar, encircling the prison."

"They know we've freed the prisoner. Destroying the prison could be revenge for her - and for everyone else kept captive here," Harry replied.

"It would be revenge for all of them," Hermione agreed. "They could rebuild it, of course - but they might not be able to recreate the wards. Though we might have trouble actually destroying the building without getting exposed since we'd have to cancel the Shrinking Charms for that."

Harry nodded. At their current size, they would barely make a dent in the wall with their strongest Reductor Curses. And the prison would be protected against fire, even though they might be able to set some furniture ablaze, though… "What if they think the fire is a distraction? Make them think they have seen through our plan, and when they move to the other end of the village, we can get out."

"After dealing with the half a dozen pirates - at least - whom they'll send to deal with the fire?" Hermione shook her head. "We're too far from the shore for that to work. And the village is too small for this to give us enough time to get out, through the pirates, to the boat and then away before the other pirates return."

Harry sighed. "If we can't create a distraction, can't just fly out and can't tunnel out…"

"We could use a tunnel, but we would have to be lucky to avoid the sea and getting spotted when we climb out and end the Shrinking Charms," Hermione cut in.

He rolled his eyes for a moment. "In any case, if we can't get out or summon robes to us, then we either have to make a disguise ourselves or lure a single pirate into the prison so we can ambush them and take their clothes."

Hermione bit her lower lip again. "I don't know if we can recreate a convincing disguise using our own robes. A few Colour Change Charms could help, but we'd need to alter our own robes significantly to match the fashion here." She pointed at one of the pirates standing between the shores and the prison, looking around.

"It doesn't have to be perfect," Harry pointed out. "Just good enough to fool an observer at a distance at night." And moving as if they were perfectly at ease would help. Fewer people questioned you if you acted with confidence.

Hermione seemed to mull it over. "It's possible, then. But anyone taking a closer look won't be fooled."

"That leaves luring - or summoning - a pirate into the prison, stunning them and taking their clothes," Harry said. "And for that, at least one of us would have to be their normal size." Which meant there would be a greater risk of being discovered.

"And we would need to find a pirate who would either enter alone without alerting the others - or one who can be summoned without anyone else taking notice," Hermione told him. "I don't know if we should base our plan on such a coincidence."

"No, we shouldn't," Harry said, sighing. But they might have to. If only… Oh! He grinned. "I think I have a solution!"

*****​

Harry Potter eyed the robes Hermione had altered. She had been correct - they didn't look like much. The vest looked rough, as did the trousers and shirt. And the… what did you call the hat? Fez? - looked, well… Hermione had tried her best, but the hat looked as if it had gone through a battle already. And had lost.

Hermione looked apologetic. "It's the best I can do - I don't know enough about tailoring."

Harry nodded. Céline had helped with the design, which had probably been embarrassing for Hermione, but that hadn't done too much either. "It should work," he said. "It only needs to hold up long enough to fool one pirate."

"Provided we can catch one of them alone," Hermione pointed out.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he retorted. "If this doesn't work, we'll have to think of something else."

"Well, let's put it on," Hermione said. Her frown told him that she still didn't like this part of the plan. But Harry was the obvious choice - he was the better duellist. And his mangled foot wouldn't be too much of a hindrance. And if Hermione took his place instead, and something went wrong, then she would need to take Harry and Céline and flee on the broom - they couldn't afford to weigh the broom down with more than one person at their natural size. And they both knew who had the better chances to escape the pirates on a broom.

Harry sighed and pulled the disguise on - with Hermione's help. It felt weird, but he would manage. He had to. "Alright. Let's check if we can find a target."

They flew up to the windowsill again. It was late at night by now. Not quite dawn, fortunately. In theory, the pirates should be at their most vulnerable now. And it seemed their numbers - the numbers of the pirates out and about - had thinned somewhat. The ship was still half capsized, and Harry could see two wizards on the hull. Some would be in the air as well. And…

"There's a man walking towards the prison. No, along the shore," Hermione said. "But going in our direction."

Harry saw the man - and he didn't see anyone else around. His field of view was limited, but it was late, so… "Let's do it!" he said with more confidence than he felt.

"Alright," Hermione replied.

They flew down to the floor, then quickly made their way out of the room through a small gap under the door, to the entrance of the prison.

The door was closed, but through the small gap at the side, they could see the man walking past. It was now or never.

Harry landed and dismounted - carefully so he didn't stand on his bad foot. Leaving Hermione in control of the broom, he pointed his wand at himself to cancel the Shrinking Charm.

"Finite!"

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Sirius: "It's impossible for them to have evaded capture for this long! I mean, I love Harry, but he's just not that capable. And Miss Granger is...Miss Granger."
*hundreds of miles away*
Harry: "I suddenly have the urge to use a Blasting Curse on someone..."

Click to shrink...

Sirius: "I see - that's why Lily didn't want me to teach you that curse!"

Should be "eastern"

Click to shrink...

Thanks, fixed!

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 28: The Prison Break Part 3

Algiers, Algeria, July 18th, 1996

"Where is the island your gang is based on?" Sirius Black repeated himself.

The pirate on the chair in front of him kept looking at him with the dumbest expression he had seen since James had managed to switch Snape's potion with a fizzy muggle drink in their fourth year.

"I don't think that he understands English," Peter commented.

Sirius clenched his teeth. "I can see that."

"Why did you keep asking him, then?"

"I didn't want the Veritaserum going to waste," Sirius told him with a frown. "And I wanted to make sure he wasn't faking it."

"That makes no sense," Fleur objected.

Sirius glared at her, and Bill whispered into her ear. Probably something about Sirius being frustrated or something. Well, he was. "We need a translator," he said. "We need your friend. Saidi." The pirate would speak Arabian, at least. If he didn't… Sirius exhaled through his clenched teeth. Any minute they were wasting endangered Harry.

"I'll go fetch him - unless you want to take our prisoner to his house," Bill said.

"No, no. Get him here!" Sirius shook his head. He didn't trust Saidi too much, and the odds of an attack or ambush were a little lower in muggle Algiers - no one wanted to be accused of endangering the Statute of Secrecy. That didn't mean such things wouldn't happen, of course - he had seen, and done, his fair share of combat in muggle areas during the war.

"I'll be right back." Bill grinned - and disapparated.

Sirius sighed and threw himself onto the couch. He crossed his legs and leaned back, staring - glaring - at the ceiling. "Why can't everyone speak English?"

"Why should they?" Fleur shrugged in that French manner of hers - he saw when he tilted his head to the side.

"A lot of muggles speak English. Or something they think is English," Peter pointed out.

"See? The muggles know what's good for them!" Sirius leaned forward, clapping his hands. "We wouldn't have to wait for a wizard of dubious trustworthiness if the pirate spoke English."

"It's just a small obstacle to deal with," Peter said. His friend acted as if nothing was amiss, sitting calmly in an armchair and reading some muggle newspaper. In French.

"Unless Saidi mistranslates," Sirius pointed out.

"He won't risk angering us - and Dumbledore," Fleur said, crossing her arms.

"I would've expected you to say that we can trust him because he's your friend," Sirius told her with a slight frown.

"I don't trust anyone in this country." Fleur scoffed with a sneer.

"Saidi seems to like you." Peter didn't look at them, Sirius saw - he kept reading his newspaper.

"So he says. That doesn't make us friends." Fleur shook her head. "Beel likes him but knows better than to trust him."

"And we're trusting him to save Harry?" Sirius shook his head as well. That didn't sound good.

"It's in his best interests to help us," Fleur said.

"Ah. Self-interest." Sirius sighed. "Let's hope it's enough. Shouldn't they be back here already?"

"Saidi might need some time to instruct his servants how to behave in his absence," Fleur said. She did seem a little less sure than she sounded, though. At least in Sirius's opinion.

But then, two figures appeared in the middle of the room. Sirius recognised Bill and Saidi a moment after he had aimed his wand at them. "Ah, there you are. We were just talking about you," he said, standing up.

Meanwhile, Peter moved his wand behind their backs. Trust, but verify, as the saying went. A moment later, his friend nodded at Sirius. They were safe, then.

"Alright. There is the scumbag," Sirius said, pointing at the pirate who was still drooling on the chair they had stuck him to. "We need to know where his island is. And how we can travel there." No time to chat about the weather now.

"Of course!" Saidi was all smiles. He bowed to Fleur, then turned to the prisoner and started talking in whatever language they spoke.

This time, the pirate replied in the typically dull tone of a man affected by Veritaserum. Sirius was familiar with it, from both sides - another legacy of the war. With spies abound, the Order had had to be careful about leaks.

Saidi didn't seem to like the answers - he kept asking questions with a frown on his face for a few minutes until he turned to address the group. "The man has told me where the island on which his gang is hiding is located. Unfortunately, it cannot be accessed by Apparition, and he cannot make a Portkey, either."

Sirius cursed. That complicated things.

"And we can't use brooms either - at least not to fly through the island's protections, though, given the distances involved, I would caution against making the trip on brooms anyway," Saidi went on. "I fear we need a ship."

"'We'?" Sirius asked.

The other wizard smiled at him. "You will need a translator, won't you?"

Sirius slowly nodded. The man was correct, after all.

"We'll need a translator - and a ship, then," he said. "How much for a ship?"

"That depends on its size," Bill said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. That was obvious. "How big a ship do we need to reach the island?"

"Ah… if the weather's fair, you can reach it in a fishing boat," Saidi told them. "But if it's not fair…"

"...then we sink." Sirius shook his head. "And a larger ship needs a crew, doesn't it?"

"That depends on your experience with sailing," Saidi replied.

"I can swim," Sirius said - and glanced at Peter. Perhaps his friend once had to sneak on board a ship as a rat and managed to learn about…

Peter shook his head before Sirius could finish his thought. "I never learned anything about ships - except for the fact that they sink if you blow a hole into them."

That sounded like a story Sirius wanted to hear. He smiled at Peter. "Well, we need that kind of experience - we'll be facing a pirate ship." And pirate ships needed to be sunk.

Fleur nodded. "They'll attack us as soon as they spot us."

"A crew would also help with evening the odds," Saidi commented. "According to our friend here, the pirates number three dozen people. Which is quite a significant number compared to our own."

Sirius snorted. Three dozen? That was a little much. Even for him and Peter. "Well, so we need to hire a ship with a trustworthy crew. I don't suppose you'd know such a ship?"

Fleur scoffed, and Bill reached over to pat her hand.

Saidi, though, was smiling widely at Sirius. "I happen to know a trustworthy captain with a suitable crew and ship."

"A pirate?" Fleur asked with narrowed eyes.

"A reformed pirate," Saidi told her - the man's smile slipped a little. "He has seen the error of his ways and abandoned this filthy trade."

"And how long ago was this… change of views?" Bill asked.

"Before or after he heard about Dumbledore's interest in his business?" Fleur scowled.

"Before, actually. As I have heard it told, he fell in love with one of his victims, and, in an attempt to win her love, he swore to forsake his trade," Saidi said. "That was five years ago, and, apparently, he's still trying to court her." He shrugged. "His apparent, ah, unwillingness to admit defeat in that matter aside, he's a skilled sailor and an experienced hand at fighting. And, as my inquiries proved, he hasn't engaged in piracy since his vow."

Such a sacrifice for love? Well, Sirius could respect that. That still made the man a former pirate who had traded in slaves. Such a stain didn't vanish after a few years - nor did the temptation vanish. But they didn't have many alternatives. None of them was a sailor. On the other hand, while three dozen pirates - and probably a few more from their families - would be bad odds indeed, Sirius wasn't about to trust pirates to fight pirates. He would get help from England. James and Lily would kill him anyway, if he didn't inform them about this. Remus probably as well. "Alright. Let's meet your 'reformed pirate'," he said.

"He should still be celebrating his latest trip to the New World in his favourite tavern," Saidi said. "I think it might be best if I am present to help with the arrangements."

Sirius nodded. But they would keep an eye on both the pirate and Saidi.

*****​

"An attack on a pirate island?" The Captain, Abdul the Black, or so he presented himself in accented English, snorted. "By ourselves?"

"We just need your ship," Sirius corrected him. "We'll gather enough wands to deal with a few dozen pirates ourselves. That way, we can avoid accidentally cursing your people in the battle."

"You're quite confident," Abdul told him with a hint of a sneer.

But Sirius had dealt with far more arrogant people. Even if he didn't count his own family. "We've beaten Voldemort and his Death Eaters. A few pirates won't be a problem," he said.

"Voldemort? The Dark Lord?" Abdul raised his eyebrows. Apparently, Saidi hadn't informed him about who exactly was hiring him.

"We're members of Dumbledore's order," Sirius told him. Well, technically, only Peter and he were, and the Order was effectively defunct, but… sowing some fear into the hearts of pirates that Dumbledore would lead his private army to the Barbary Coast was never a bad idea.

"Dumbledore himself has taken an interest in this affair," Peter added.

"I see." And there went all the arrogance, replaced by a forced smile and fake cheerfulness. "Far would it be from me to refuse to help such a noble endeavour. Indeed, what better way to prove to my love, my dear Claudine, that I am a changed wizard than to battle pirates myself?" Abdul held out his hand.

"Does that mean you won't need payment?" Sirius asked, baring his teeth.

Abdul's laugh sounded honest for the first time this evening.

As the haggling began, Sirius had a good feeling about this. They would crush those pirates.

And save Harry and Miss Granger.

*****​

Unknown Island, July 18th, 1996

Hovering on their broom, off in the corner of the corridor, Hermione Granger held her breath - and held Céline - while Harry, with his back to the door, yelled - though not too loudly - "Stop!" and acted as if he was wrestling with someone.

"Tout va bien," she whispered. "Everything's going to be OK." She hoped Céline believed her. "Maintenant!"

And Céline started yelling as well. "Non! Lachez-moi! A l'aide!" Thanks to the amplifying Charm Hermione had cast on her, her words sounded loud enough to carry outside. Hopefully, not too far.

And the pirate running towards them seemed to have heard her. He had his wand drawn. But would he be fooled long enough to enter the prison? Was he fooled at all, or was he just trying to get close enough to hit Harry with his first curse?

"Non! A l'aide!"

While Céline yelled some more, Harry moved further into the hallway, away from the door, as the pirate approached. He had to keep his distance and stay in the shadows, Hermione knew - their disguise was shoddy and wouldn't hold up to even cursory glances from up close.

But it seemed to be working - the pirate entered, leading with his wand, and yelled something in a language Hermione didn't understand.

And Harry whirled, throwing the remains of the chair he had been holding straight at the man.

The pirate gasped, and his wand sent a curse into the wooden parts. They blew up, and Hermione gasped as splinters were sent flying - in her direction as well. She bent over, trying to shield Céline with her body; her Shield Charm wouldn't stop a splinter bigger than her shrunken body.

Something passed close by - she felt the air current - but nothing hit them. She looked up, guiding the broom away, to some sort of cover behind a shelf.

The pirate was on the ground, yelling, but Harry cut him off with a Stunning Curse. What had… Oh. The splinters would have hit the man; he was too close and hadn't had a shield up.

Serves him right, Hermione thought, then bit her lower lip. She shouldn't feel like this about a man getting hurt.

She felt Céline tremble in her arms and whispered: "Tu as été très courageuse!"

"M-merci," the girl replied. She didn't relax, though.

"Episkey!" Harry snapped, painting his wand at the pirate as he dashed forward to the door. "Episkey!"

He passed the stunned man and stopped at the door, peering out.

"Doesn't seem as if anyone has noticed," he said in a whisper that still carried far better than Hermione's yelling due to the size difference.

But an Amplifying Charm solved that - even though casting it to whisper at normal volume felt somehow wrong. Not that she could ponder this, not now. "Good." She flew up to Harry's head with Céline. "Grab the pirate's clothes; I'll keep watch." She didn't have to say it since it was the plan, after all, but she said it anyway.

And Harry turned and got to work.

Hermione forced herself to focus on the area outside the prison. Harry could strip the pirate easily - he didn't need her to look over his shoulder. Or stand on his shoulder, in this case. In a pinch, he could just cut off the robes, then mend them once they were off the pirate.

Still, while only a short time passed, it felt far too long. She stared at the shore, at the sky, watched a pair of pirates fly overhead, towards the still capsized ship in the middle of the bay. And at every moment, she expected someone to yell in alarm, sending a curse towards the prison.

"I've taken his jewellery as well," Harry whispered. "Some of it might be enchanted to let us pass through protections."

She looked over her shoulder and gasped. "Harry! What did you do?"

He grinned. "I cut off his beard, too - and stuck it to my face. It improves the disguise, doesn't it?"

"As long as none takes a closer look," she said. "The beard - or what remains of it - covers more of the right side of your face than of your left side."

"Oh." Harry shrugged. "No problem then - I'll just show my right side to them!"

She snorted against her will.

"Alright. We'll slip into… your front pocket, So you can carry the broom and unshrink it in advance," she whispered.

Harry peered into the pocket in his captured vest. "Oh… one moment, please."

He pulled out a small - well, small relative to his size - silver box. "Now you've got enough room."

"OK." Hermione licked her lips, then guided the broom over to Harry's shoulder. He held out his hand, and she dismounted on it, followed by Céline.

And tried not to yelp when Harry moved his hand to the top of his pocket so they could climb in. If they fell from this height…

But they didn't, and while the entire pocket smelt like tobacco - Harry's Cleaning Charms must have been sloppy to miss that and get the blood - it was comfortable enough.

As long as Hermione didn't think of what would happen should Harry fall down on his front.

*****​

Harry Potter took a deep breath. He could do this. He just had to walk out, stroll over to the shore, where the fishing boat was tied up, wait for their distraction to draw attention, then shrink it, unshrink his broom, and fly away without anyone noticing.

Piece of cake. If not for his mangled foot. But he could use his broom.

First, he had to shrink the pirate, though - they couldn't set fire to the prison with the pirate stunned inside it. Well, they could, but… He grimaced. No, they couldn't!

He tried not to think about the whole thing and pointed his wand at the pirate. "Incarcerous!"

Ropes wrapped themselves around the prone form. It wouldn't do for the man to wake up in the middle of this. Even without a wand and in his underwear - Harry wouldn't wear that, disguise or not - the pirate could be dangerous. Especially for Hermione and Céline, who were shrunk as well.

The man shrunk until he was barely over two inches tall. He looked OK - Harry couldn't see any obvious mistakes he might have made with the spell. And there wasn't the time to check more thoroughly, anyway. Harry picked the figure up, carefully - he couldn't put pressure on his foot - cast a Bubble-Head Charm on him and put him into his other vest pocket.

He didn't like that - if anything hit his chest, or if he fell… But it was the least bad option to transport shrunken people. If only he had an extended pocket!

"Alright," he said, for Hermione's benefit. "I'm starting the fire."

"OK," he heard her whisper.

He pointed his wand at the wood gathered in the corner - parts of it wet with water thanks to a quick Water-Making spell - and focused. "Incendio!"

The dry wood in the centre quickly caught fire, and he could see the first wisps of smoke rising from the stack. He had to wait a little before he could leave - this wouldn't be much of a distraction without more smoke. A Bubble-Head Charm would keep him from inhaling too much smoke.

The fire grew a little more slowly, but soon enough, smoke started gathering under the ceiling, drifting to the stairs - and the open door. It was time to leave.

Then he heard voices outside. Alarmed voices. And his stomach dropped. Someone had noticed the smoke already. No!

He clenched his teeth. "They noticed the smoke already," he whispered.

"No!" Hermione replied. "That's… We can't..."

"I guess we'll find out how good the disguise is," Harry said. He tried to sound confident, but he grimaced since Hermione, stuck in his pocket, couldn't see his face.

This was bad. Very bad.

Perhaps he could… no. He couldn't use the captured pirate as a distraction. Not while wearing his clothes and beard. It was still dark outside, but - as a quick glance at his watch told him - it wouldn't be for too much longer. And the smoke was getting worse.

He used the Water-Making Spell to douse himself - he heard Hermione squawk; apparently, the pockets on the vest weren't waterproof - and then smeared some soot on himself. Even though he was still somewhat covered in ash and soot from before.

Showtime.

He kept the spell going, spraying water all over the floor and the walls, not aiming at the fire itself, and limped out of the door, groaning with each stumbling step. It was a relief to let himself fall on his back to squirm in the sand and dirt before carefully rolling over while lifting his chest to avoid squashing Hermione and Céline.

Before he could get up to his hands and knees, a pirate landed next to him but stayed on his broom. He asked something Harry didn't understand but could guess. Not that it mattered. Harry kept staring at the ground, hiding his face, and flicked his wand beneath him, casting a Ventriloquism Charm.

The pirate repeated himself - or close enough. And he sounded more urgent. Harry wet his lips, tasing sand grains on his face, and used the charm.

"You'll never get us alive!" his voice rang out from the prison. "Avada Kedavra!"

The pirate next to him jerked and yelled something. Harry heard someone above them - the second pirate - reply. If only he spoke their language!

"Come and get us!" he made his voice yell. "Pirate scum!"

Harry himself groaned and coughed, still hiding his face by staring at the ground. He retched as well.

The pirate next to him suddenly grabbed his shoulder, asking something. Damn.

Harry flicked his wand and looked up. He saw the man's eyes widen, but before the pirate could yell a warning about an impostor, Harry's Stunner hit him straight in the chest, and he collapsed.

Harry pushed himself up - using just his good leg - and screamed incoherently as he sent a Reductor Curse towards the prison's entrance. The door vanished in a cloud of dust and smoke, and Harry grabbed the stunned pirate, then his broom, using it to drag them away from the prison, towards the shore.

Another spell flew towards the prison from above him - the flying pirate must have fallen for his ploy. Harry sent a Bludgeoning Curse into the smoke himself and gritted his teeth - the pirate was heavy!

More of the man's comrades were arriving on brooms and on foot, and Harry cast a Stunner at the prison, waving the other pirates on.

Unfortunately, one of the newcomers rushed towards him, obviously wanting to help the stunned pirate. Harry turned his face away and cast a Shield Charm.

And once the pirate reached him, Harry stunned him as well, then used a Reductor Curse on the ground next to him to throw up sand and smoke.

Then he flew out of the cloud, still screaming and casting curses at the prison, which was now half-hidden by the smoke.

And there was the fishing boat, just a dozen yards away!

Harry smiled. Just as planned! Mostly. He looked over his shoulder; it seemed everyone was focused on the burning prison. Perfect!

He rushed the last few steps, then dropped from the broom to the ground next to the boat's bow, where it was tied to a post. The knot looked complex, but a quick Severing Charm would make short work of the rope.

It didn't. Instead of being cut apart, the rope remained untouched.

And a loud sound, like a bell being rung, started up - Harry had triggered an alert! No!

He whirled. Two pirates who had been kneeling next to the one he had stunned were looking at him. Wands raising.

Harry sent a Reductor Curse at them. The explosion threw one of them over the beach like a ragdoll and the other ran away, holding his face. Harry pointed his wand at the rope securing the boat and cast a Cutting Curse. That did the job - the rope parted. Now he just had to… Duck!

He sat down, almost falling over, when a purple curse flew at him. But he couldn't drop - he would crush the others. Another curse clipped his shield as he slid around the boat, taking cover behind it. This was bad. Worse!

"What's going on?" Hermione whispered from his pocket.

"The rope was charmed and alerted the pirates," he said. Another spell flew over his head. He peered over the boat and sent a Stunning Curse back, then ducked down again.

The boat shook under the impact of another spell. No choice - he couldn't stay and let the boat be destroyed! But… Cursing, he pointed his wand up. "Accio pirate's broom!" He focused on the second pirate's broom.

More spells flew over the boat and his head - couldn't they aim any better? Even in the darkness? Or… He looked up. If the pirates on brooms were about to flank him…

The summoned broom planted itself in the sand next to him. Good. They had two brooms now. That meant they had options.

The boat shook from another hit. He shrunk the second broom, dropping it in his pocket - and ignored Hermione's 'Ow!'. Then he took a deep breath and shrank the boat.

He heard yelling, and as he grabbed the boat, now the size of a toy, a curse shattered his shield.

He threw himself to the side, not letting go of the boat, and landed on his back. His foot hit a rock, and he screamed with pain. Another curse barely missed him, hitting the sand next to him and covering it in sizzling green liquid. Cursing under his breath, blinking through tears, he stuffed the boat into his pocket, recast the Shield Charm and grabbed the broom. "Up!"

The broom rose, dragging him in the air as he hooked one leg above it. A Bludgeoning Curse struck his Shield Charm, shattering it again and almost threw him off the broom - he barely managed to keep a grip on the shaft as another curse passed overhead. Panting, he hooked his leg over the shaft again and pulled himself up. It was more difficult than it had to be since he had to keep Hermione and Céline from getting crushed, but he managed. While urging the broom to keep raising and speeding up.

Then he was bent over the shaft, still panting, and flew as fast as he could towards the hill.

"What's going on?" Hermione hissed.

"We're in the air," he replied, yelling.

"I noticed!"

One curse missed him - he saw the red flash pass him. He banked left, looking over his shoulder. Two of the broom riders were after him. And behind them, he could see the horizon taking on a red hue.

Time was running out.

"Hold on tight!" he snapped. A moment later, he started a dive. He heard Hermione squeak, probably frightened, but they had no choice.

He flew down towards the island in a rapid spiral. Pulling on the broom's shaft with one hand, he cast yet another Shield Charm, then levelled out - and pulled up, turning and rolling, until he was flying straight towards the two pirates chasing him. And cast a pair of Stunners.

He had to roll and bank, narrowly avoiding yellowing and brown curses, but his own curses struck one of the pirates, shattering his shield - but missing stunning him.

Gritting his teeth, Harry adjusted his course - and flew straight into the descending pirate. His own shield shattered on impact, and he was thrown around, clinging to the broom with all his strength.

But the pirate's broom had been shattered, and the man screamed as he fell to the Earth.

Harry hesitated a moment, then dived after the flailing wizard. He flicked his wand. "Levicorpus!"

The spell caught the man's ankle and stopped his fall - and the screams changed from horror to pain when the man's ankle snapped like a twig.

And Harry was past him. The second pirate would have to save his comrade, and the other pirates hadn't yet caught up.

Good. He wouldn't miss this opportunity.

*****​

Hermione Granger knew she shouldn't do it - it was foolish - but she couldn't help it. She couldn't stay any longer in Harry's pocket, being jolted around without any idea what was happening.

"Reste ici!" she whispered to Céline, then started to climb up to the opening of the pocket. It was harder than expected - she was thrown around since Harry was flying like a maniac, and, once, she was almost thrown out of the pocket; only a quick Sticking Charm saved her.

But she reached the edge of the pocket and, after another charm, stuck her head out.

And wished she hadn't - they were flying at high speed directly at the jungle! "What are you doing?" she yelled.

"Escaping the pirates!" Harry replied.

She couldn't see any spells flashing by. "Are we being chased?"

"I can't see anyone."

Well, she couldn't see anyone or anything behind them. "Don't fly into the jungle!"

"What? Go back into the pocket!"

"No!" She was fine here - her spell prevented her from falling out.

"You can't do anything like that!"

"I can see!"

"In the darkness?"

"As well as you can!" she retorted. They weren't in the brightly lit village any more.

"That's not reassuring."

"Says the wizard flying straight towards the jungle!"

"I'm not going to fly through it! I just need to make them think I did!"

"What?"

"So they'll search the jungle, not the sea!"

"But they know you stole the boat!" she pointed out.

"That's why I'm going through the jungle!"

"What?"

And then they broke through the canopy. Hermione screamed out of reflex when the branches splintered before she realised that Harry's Shield Charm protected her as well.

"Calm down!"

"I am calm!" she lied - flying through the underbrush was worse. Fortunately, Harry showed some sense of self-preservation and slowed down, then changed course and flew towards the hill.

"You want to sail westwards?" she asked, as calmly as she could, as they left the jungle.

"They'll expect us to try eastwards since the African Coast is that way," he replied.

"Or they'll expect us to anticipate that and sail west."

"I don't think they think that far," Harry replied.

"Let's hope that they'll think we'll go south." That was the most likely course, in her opinion - straight away from the island and shielded from view by the hill between them and the village. Not that that would stop a broom rider from spotting them. She looked at the horizon. "The sun's rising soon."

"Enough time to get away with the boat," Harry said.

She licked her lips, looked at the growing line of red out in the sea, and nodded even though he couldn't see it. If they flew a little longer, they'd only have a small distance to sail in the boat. "Yes. Let's do it. But don't fly too far."

"I won't."

Harry flew them around the hill, using it as cover, then dashed over the still smoking remains of the forest the pirates had set on fire. She even recognised their shelter - it had been torn and blasted open, or so it seemed. If they had tried to hide in there…

But they were already over the beach, passing a few familiar rocks. "Not too far," she reminded him. They didn't know exactly where the wardline was. Not even approximately. And if they misjudged the distance, they would only realise it when whatever curses protected the island activated...

"Yes, yes," he replied.

And he slowed down, then stopped. And reached into his other pocket, pulling out a shrunken pirate and a shrunken boat.

A quick charm later, the boat was restored to its natural size and in the water, and Harry landed in it. And cursed.

"Your foot?" If he had bumped it against the boat...

He didn't answer. Instead, he held a shrunken broom out to her.

She grabbed it, then helped Céline onto it before flying down to land on the boat's middle bench.

Time to restore their own natural size. She aimed her wand at Céline. "Finite!"

The girl rapidly grew and almost crushed her when she fell off the bench. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Hermione whispered. It wasn't her fault, but Céline was a little girl. And she had gone through so much, the last thing she needed was recriminations.

Hermione took a deep breath, then ended the Shrinking Charm on herself.

She, too, almost fell off the bench. But she was back to her natural size herself, and without having suffered any side effects - at least as far as she could tell.

"Alright," She said. "How's your foot?"

"It's fine."

It obviously wasn't, but Hermione wouldn't push the issue. Not so close to freedom. "Let's go." She looked around. "There aren't any oars?"

"I didn't check," Harry said. "We'll have to use magic."

Great. Hermione didn't know any boat-propelling charm. Another stupid mistake of hers - she should've learned what charm moved the boats with the First Years across the Black Lake.

And she should've realised this before starting this. Sloppy. Stupid and sloppy. They had counted on there being oars to row the boat. That couldn't be too hard. They could paddle, at the very least. "The pirate we took prisoner could know how to move the boat," she said.

"But will he?" Harry asked.

They could try to force the man, of course. But… what if he was too stubborn to cave? Even in the face of threats? Could they hurt the man to make him move the boat? Could Hermione? She didn't answer. "We don't have sails, either."

"And figuring out how to activate the enchantment on the boat might take a while," Harry said. He looked at the horizon, which was now glowing red.

"And we would lose the cover of darkness," Hermione said, clenching her teeth. The pirates would already be looking for them. On brooms. They were running out of time.

"I can pull it on a broom. If we're fast enough, it'll slide through the wards on its own," Harry suggested.

"After you crash into the wards?" Hermione said.

"I can swim and push the boat," Harry countered.

"With your foot?" She shook her head. "I'll push the boat. You keep an eye out for sharks and other threats. She grabbed her top to pull it off, then stopped. Push the boat through the water. Like… "An octopus!"

"What?" Harry looked around. "Where?"

Céline looked alarmed as well.

Hermione ignored their reactions. "An octopus, like a squid, propels itself through water by expelling water - a sort of jet propulsion!" she explained.

They looked at her with blank expressions. Well, Céline didn't understand English. But Harry?

"The Water-Making Spell!" She blurted out.

"Oh! Yes!" Harry grinned at her. "Good idea!"

She snorted. It was a great idea. "Let's hurry!"

She pointed her wand at the sea and cast. "Aguamenti!"

Water shot from the tip of her wand.

"Aguamenti!"

"Into the water," she said, lowering the tip of her wand into the sea.

Harry followed her example.

And the boat started to move.

Yes!

She looked up, at the shore, to gauge their course. Good enough, she decided. "Keep going!"

The sun started to rise as well - the island and the hill to the east still blocked the line of sight, but the darkness was fading anyway. It didn't matter, though. Just a little bit more, and they would be free. Though since they didn't know how far exactly the spells protecting the island reached out, they would have to keep going for some time to be on the safe side. Literally.

She snorted at her own unintended pun.

"We're rather slow," Harry commented.

"Yes." She could see it - she wasn't blind.

"And the sun's rising."

"Yes." That was obvious as well.

"We'll have trouble avoiding the pirates when we switch to brooms," Harry pointed out. "It'll be day by then, and we'll be visible from afar."

"If they are looking for us," she retorted - but then, they would be scouring the sea for them. The pirates couldn't afford to let them escape and tell others of the island. "Which they will be," she added.

"They're already looking for us, I'm sure," Harry replied. She heard him take a deep breath. "Look…"

"If you tell me that you'll serve as a distraction, I'll curse you myself, shrink you and carry you in my pocket!" she cut him off.

He drew a sharp breath for a moment. She had been correct. "Look, we have three people and two brooms - we won't be able to outrun them. Someone has to keep them busy. And I'm the better flyer."

"Then you need to ensure that Céline gets to safety," she retorted. "Besides, I have a plan."

"You have?"

"Yes."

"Does it involve us shrinking ourselves again to escape on the back of birds?"

"No." They had been lucky to be able to shrink themselves - and Céline - once without issues. "We might not have the time for that before the pirates find us, and they wouldn't let a bird escape. Not after our distraction."

"Right. So much for Tolkien."

She had to laugh at that, even though the sky was turning blue now, and they were - by her reckoning - still too close to the shore to be safe.

"So, what's your plan?" Harry asked after a moment.

"It actually does involve birds," she told him. "If I conjure a swarm of them and enlarge them like before, we can…"

"Brooms!" Harry snapped, interrupting her. Straight behind us!"

She looked up. Yes, right in the direction Harry was indicating, she could see dark dots flying above the hilltop. But… "They haven't seen us. Not yet," she said.

"Not yet. How much farther?"

She bit her lower lip, hard enough to hurt, as she looked at the shore, trying to guess the distance. "A little more to be safe," she said. "Just a little more."

Harry muttered a curse under his breath. "About that plan…"

She licked her lips, staring at the tiny broom riders in the distance. They were quite far away, and it was still somewhat dark. Perhaps they wouldn't see them… "Yes. The summoned birds can serve as…"

The broom riders moved. In their direction.

"They've seen us," Harry snapped.

Céline gasped. "Non!"

And streaks of light shot up from the flying pirates. Signals, Hermione realised.

The two pirates were alerting the others that they had found them.

"Keep going!" she snapped, pulling her wand out of the water. "Avis!"

"Birds won't stop them! They can just plough through them with their shields!"

"Birds are easier to hit than brooms," Hermione snapped back. "Avis!"

"Oh."

He got it.

"Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio!"

Hermione started to enlarge the birds.

And the first pirates started to cast spells at them.

*****​

 

[Prince Charon]

"Engorgio! Engorgio! Enforgio!"

Click to shrink...

Was this meant to be three Engorgios, and of not, what spell is 'Enforgio?'

 

[Cadmus von Eizenbern]

Was this meant to be three Engorgios, and of not, what spell is 'Enforgio?'

Click to shrink...

Iron feathers spell, obviously.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 29: The Chase

Off Gibraltar, Atlantic Ocean, July 18th, 1996

Peter Pettigrew was calmer than he had expected as he watched the sun rise behind them. They had made good time - they had sailed from Algiers to the straits of Gibraltar in a few hours, much faster than a muggle sailing boat, or most muggle ships, could've managed - but it would still take at least half a day to reach the pirate island.

Something that should've been obvious from the start. It had been - at least to him.

"Can't this hulk go any faster?"

Sirius, though, hadn't made the calculations. And hadn't taken the 'news' well. Peter looked over at the other side of the bridge, where Sirius was pacing.

"We should've taken a Portkey!"

Peter shook his head. "And find a ship with a trustworthy crew in Morocco?"

"Yes!"

"And how would we have found such a crew amongst the glut of untrustworthy Barbary Coast pirates?" Peter raised his eyebrows.

Sirius hissed through clenched teeth. "We could've used Veritaserum."

"So, we would've kidnapped pirate after pirate, used Veritaserum, all without the rest of the pirates noticing that their numbers were dwindling? When everyone's already on edge because they think Dumbledore will appear and hunt them down?"

Sirius perked up and grinned at him. "That's a good plan! Anyone who doesn't run when Dumbledore arrives is trustworthy!"

Peter lowered his head. "And if everyone runs? Or those who stay are too frightened to run?"

"We could deal with that if it happened."

Peter shook his head. "We found a fast ship with an experienced crew. And James, Lily, Remus and Dumbledore, and whoever else is coming, will join us as soon as we reach Gibraltar. We're doing well, Sirius."

"Not well enough. Harry's out there. Alone. Well, with Miss Granger. Amongst pirates! Barbary Coast pirates!"

Well, Caribbean pirates, such as there were left, wouldn't be any better. British wizards didn't have the best reputation in the Caribbean. "We don't know if Harry's actually amongst pirates," Peter pointed out. "As far as we know, it's a pretty big island - plenty of room to hide." They also didn't know if Harry was actually on the island, but mentioning that wouldn't help Sirius calm down.

His friend scoffed. "He's on the island. My gut tells me so!"

"Like your gut told you that Rebecca Brown fancied you?" Peter cocked his head with a slight grin.

"She was smiling at me whenever we had classes together!"

"She was smiling at Lily, who was sitting behind you."

"I thought she was too shy to meet my eyes. Anyone could've made that mistake!" Sirius huffed again.

"Not many would've assumed that she fancied them," Peter pointed out.

"Of course not! They aren't me!" Sirius pushed his chest out and ran a hand through his hair.

Peter rolled his eyes, but he grinned. At least his friend wasn't pacing any more.

The sailor - Emir - manning the helm snorted, obviously amused. "You have troubles with witches?" he asked with a heavy accent.

"What? No! That was years, decades ago!" Sirius said.

"Barely two decades," Peter said. "But Sirius doesn't have troubles with witches. Not any more. Not at all."

"Exactly! I've…" Sirius broke off and narrowed his eyes. "What are you insinuating?"

"Nothing at all," Peter replied. "I'm just remarking that you haven't had any trouble with witches in a while."

Sirius's glare intensified. "I'm still popular! Attractive! Many witches wish they could be with me!"

"Yes, Sirius." Peter nodded. Polite agreement was the best way to rile his friend up, he knew from experience.

"I'm telling you," Sirius said, clenching his teeth, "I'm regularly dating witches."

"No one claimed anything else," Peter said, still smiling as earnestly as he could.

Emir chuckled. "If we make port in Morocco on the way back, I can introduce you to Moroccan witches. The most beautiful and most passionate witches in the world! Most dangerous too, if slighted."

Sirius stared at the sailor. "That's very generous of you, but I'll be busy tending to my godson once we've dealt with the pirates."

"Ah." Emir nodded with obvious and fake understanding.

And Sirius turned to glare at Peter. "That's your fault!"

"What? That you received a very nice offer to be introduced to beautiful witches?" Peter tilted his head.

"That people think I need such help!"

Peter snickered, then laughed at his friend's expression. After a moment, Sirius snorted and shook his head.

And Abdul appeared on deck. "Ah, a few miles off Gibraltar. As planned! Isn't she a beauty? No other ship in the Mediterranean would've made the trip as fast as mine!"

Sirius frowned, then turned to stare ahead, at the rock which was slowly fading into view.

And Peter smiled. Soon, they would be on the way again. If Harry was on the island, he would only have to hold out a little longer.

*****​

Wizarding Gibraltar, July 18th, 1996

"Ah! Gibraltar! The gateway to the Atlantic!" standing at the railing of his ship's bridge, Abdul spread his arms wide. "In ages past, it was the cornerstone of the British Empire!"

"Gibraltar still belongs to Britain," Peter Pettigrew pointed out. Both Wizarding Gibraltar and the muggle one.

"The whole village of Wizarding Gibraltar, yes." Abdul snorted. "Or is that Hamlet? What do you call a dozen buildings?"

"A dozen buildings and a port," Peter replied. "What do you call a side alley in Algiers? Magical Algeria."

Abdul laughed. "I'm not Algerian. But point taken. Still… any sailor with an appreciation for history can't help but feel sad at seeing how far Gibraltar has fallen."

Peter shrugged. With the advances in brooms, Portkeys and the Floo Network, as well as the loss of much of their colonies and oversea territories, Britain didn't need a fleet any more. "Well, except for the Spanish sailors." Spain still wanted the rock back - both of them. Even though Wizarding Spain didn't have any need for the port any more, either. But they had never forgotten how they lost it, back when both countries still had fleets.

Abdul laughed again. "Oh, yes! And, of course, my former colleagues who are still plying their despicable trade. They are very happy that the Royal Navy has long ago ceased to be a danger to them."

"Replaced by our Hit-Wizards and Aurors." Peter frowned a little. He wasn't much of a patriot. Not really. He knew too much about his own country to take offence at someone mocking it. But Abdul had an air to him… Like a challenge. It made Peter a little prickly, too.

"Oh, yes. Only a fool would dare raid Britain. However, your Aurors do not patrol the straits, nor do your Hit-Wizards scour the Mediterranean for pirates. They protect their own country, not anyone else."

They sailed into the port proper now. A handful of sailing ships were tied up at the piers, not more than a dozen. Small ones, too. The port could fit much more - the first wizarding governor of the port had been a little too optimistic when he ordered the magical port built after the Statute of Secrecy had caused Wizarding Britain to lose the old port to the muggles. "And yet, Britain is more capable than ever to lay waste to the entire Barbary Coast," he said. "Not that we would unless forced to."

"You mean Dumbledore is able to lay waste to the coast," Abdul corrected him. "Emir! Turn towards the free pier there!"

Peter nodded as if he conceded the point. Though, privately, he didn't share Abdul's opinion. Of course, Dumbledore overshadowed everyone - but as bloody as the war had been, it had left Britain with veterans. And a lot of alcoholics and nightmares. But, in Peter's opinion and experience, few countries, the wizarding enclaves of the East Coast of the New World one of those rare exceptions, had as many wizards and witches who had seen war. Actual war.

And a number of them would soon be sharing the deck with them, Peter added to himself when they pulled up alongside the pier.

"Finally!"

Peter shook his head at Sirius's outburst. His friend had been standing at the bow for the last half an hour as if he thought he would arrive faster that way.

"Alright, you louts!" Abdul yelled. "Secure the lines, and let us see where our new passengers are waiting."

"Right at the pier," Peter told him.

"What?" Abdul turned to look at him, then back at the pier - just in time to see a group of people apparate on it.

James, Lily and Remus, as expected. And Dumbledore.

Peter heard Abdul suck in his breath before muttering a curse under his breath at the sight of the old wizard.

"Good morning. May we come on board?" Dumbledore asked, a quick charm carrying his soft question to the bridge.

"Of course!" Abdul replied, just shy of yelling. Then he turned to face the deck and snapped: "Make way, make way, you louts! For Dumbledore!"

"Thank you." Dumbledore smiled warmly at the sailors as he stepped on deck. James and Lily, unsurprisingly, looked grim and barely managed to smile when Sirius greeted them and Remus.

"Captain Abdul." Dumbledore inclined his head at the man.

"Yes, yes. Call me Abdul!" The sailor smiled widely, but Peter was certain that he was far more nervous now. "We'll be on our way as soon as I have settled things with the harbourmaster."

"I took the liberty to handle this matter in advance," Dumbledore replied, handing Abdul a sheet of parchment.

"Oh." Abdul blinked. "You must have caught him on a very good day. Usually, he isn't awake so early."

Dumbledore chuckled. "He wasn't, actually, when we arrived. But he was very understanding of the urgency of our request."

"Right, right! And so are we! Cast off, you louts! We have no time to lose!"

*****​

Unknown Island, July 18th, 1996

Two pirates bearing down on them. And they were stuck on a small fishing boat, unable to dodge. Harry Potter clenched his teeth and sent curses at the pirates. At this distance, he didn't have a chance in hell of hitting them - but he'd make them flinch and spoil their aim. Or so he hoped.

A pirate's curse hit one of the birds Hermione had conjured, and half of the bird's body seemed to vanish in a green cloud. Another curse barely missed the boat.

Céline screamed.

Hermione conjured more birds.

And Harry kept casting Stunners.

The pirates rolled and weaved. Evasive flying. Harry's Stunners missed. But so did their curses. And they kept closing. The closer they were, the easier it would be for them to hit the boat.

But the pirates weren't close enough to be easily hit yet. And they probably wouldn't get close enough.

Or so they thought. Harry cast a pair of Cutting Curses, then glanced at Hermione.

She finished enlarging another bird, then flicked her wand.

And the birds shot towards the incoming pirates. The two pirates veered off, their brooms much faster than the birds, and started to evade them.

But they were now close enough to the birds. Or would be. Harry pointed his wand at the left-most bird. "Reducto!"

Hermione's own Reductor Curse followed a moment later.

The bird was flying in a straight line and straight away from the boat. Even Malfoy wouldn't have missed. His curse hit the bird, and the bird, together with two more, vanished in an explosion that engulfed one of the pirates as well.

Hermione's curse hit as well, and another explosion filled the sky with smoke and shredded bird parts.

The shockwaves threw the pirates away, the bone shards shattering their shields. Harry's target almost lost his grip on his broom - Harry saw him grip the shaft with both hands as he tried to regain control. Harry's Stunning Curse missed, though, and there was no bird near enough for another Reductor Curse.

Another explosion followed. Apparently, Hermione's pirate hadn't been thrown away too far from the rest of the birds. Harry glanced over and saw the pirate corkscrewing towards the water. Damaged bristles, he realised. And the Levitation Charm was failing. The pirate looked hurt as well, Harry noticed - the man was holding his side before he hit the water.

Céline was still screaming.

Harry looked at the second pirate. The man had regained control of his broom and was flying away - no, he was flying in a wide curve, away from the remaining birds. Either towards the pirate in the water or to flank their boat.

"Harry!" Hermione snapped. "We need to get moving."

"Right." He stuck his wand into the water. "Aguamenti!"

They started to move a little. Hermione was still casting more birds. Why would she…?

At least the second pirate had stopped near his wounded friend. Harry was tempted to send a curse at the man, but if the pirate dragged his friend out of the sea then he wouldn't be attacking the boat.

Though if more pirates were coming… Harry looked up. He didn't see anyone flying towards them, but they could be disillusioned. Probably were - they would have seen what had happened.

But if they were disillusioned, then Harry and Hermione's Human-presence-revealing Spell wouldn't show them until they were close enough to curse them. "We need more birds!" he hissed.

"I know. I'm casting as fast as I can," she replied in a tense voice. "Engorgio!"

A bird grew in size and started circling the boat with the others. A living shield of sorts. Not too close, of course, so the pirates couldn't copy their tactics.

But that meant that the birds had to cover too much space. Around them, above them… Harry clenched his teeth. At any moment, a pirate could arrive above them - or even in front of them - and the first thing they'd notice would be the curse flying at them.

And with just his Water-Making Spell propelling the boat forward, they were moving very slowly. Too slowly.

Half a dozen new birds joined the swarm surrounding them.

"How much longer until we're through the wards?" He asked.

"I don't know. We can still see the island, so we're not out of the protections yet," she replied. "Avis!"

Right. They might be close, or they might be too far to reach the wardline. He clenched his teeth. Just a little bit further. A little bit…

A bird exploded.

*****​

Hermione Granger couldn't help but shriek in surprise when one of her birds suddenly vanished in a small cloud of blood and gore. "Did you see where the curse came from?" she asked, looking around as she hastily conjured more birds.

"No, I…. there!" Harry snapped.

Hermione gasped once more and threw herself down in the boat moments before a green spell flashed past, hitting the water next to the bow. "They're behind us!" She directed more birds to their rear.

"They'll be circling us," Harry said.

Damn. She clenched her teeth. He was correct - the pirates would be encircling them to catch them in a crossfire from outside the range of their Human-presence-revealing Spells.

"We need to get on the brooms!" Harry yelled.

"We can't!" Hermione replied, frantically casting even more birds. "We can still see the island - we must still be inside the wards!" They wouldn't be able to pass through the wards on brooms. Probably.

Judging by Harry's cursing, he agreed.

Just as when Hermione was wondering if they had crossed the wards, another bird exploded - and the shockwave rocked the boat. Blasting Curse, she realised as she struggled to keep her balance on her knees, and Céline screamed in fright. They were copying her idea! She had to send the birds further away, but that would make it easier to target the boat…

Perhaps if they got into the water? Dived and… No. If they were too slow, a single Blasting Curse cast into the water would kill them all.

Smoke? They had nothing to burn except for the boat itself, and that would be stupid and take too long, anyway.

Two birds vanished, and another spell barely missed the boat, leaving a stain of green liquid on the sea as they sailed past it.

Then her shield shattered, struck by another curse. Once more, she dropped down, hastily recasting her Shield Charm. Céline screamed even louder. Harry grunted - he must have hit his mangled foot.

They had to get away. And fast. No choice. "Hold on!" she yelled. "Harry, hold on to Céline!"

"What?"

Another bird turned into a red mist. They were surrounded now. "Do it!"

She moved her wand as Harry scrambled past her and covered Céline. If she misjudged this… No choice. She pointed and cast.

And the sea behind them exploded. A column of water rose as the waves hit the boat, lifting it up and then pushing it forward. Hermione had to struggle to keep her grip on the bench in the boat when it went down the wave, almost diving into the sea.

"Ah! You're crazy!" she heard Harry's shout over the screaming of Céline and the noise from the water falling down amongst screeching birds.

"Hold on!" she yelled back, rising again to repeat her action. Another Blasting Curse hit the water as a bird was cut apart by a curse, and a second curse was deflected by her shield.

Once more, the sea blew up, and the shockwave pushed the boat on. And decimated the birds she had conjured, she realised as she came up.

A thin cloud of steam rose from the water as well, but it wasn't enough to obscure them. And the birds weren't numerous enough any more to shield them effectively. Although… She waved her wand and ordered the birds to the side and the stern, then cast a few more.

"Push us on!" she snapped, enlarging the next bird.

"No more explosions?"

"Not for now!" She ducked as another bird - to their side - caught a curse. There couldn't be too many pirates, and they had to be staying out of range and in motion, or they'd have been cursed already. More than one pirate, at least. But how many?

More birds moved to that side as Harry got them moving again.

"The bow's not covered!" he said.

"I know," she replied. A curse hit the sea right behind their boat, splashing seawater over them. That had come from the other side!

"Why wouldn't you… Oh!"

"We have to be close to the wardline," she snapped.

The sea erupted once more, but to the side. "That wasn't me!" she yelled as the boat was caught by the wave and almost capsized. Then she grunted with pain when she was thrown into the hull of the boat.

And Céline went overboard!

"Accio Céline's robes!" Harry yelled before Hermione could react.

The girl shot out of the water, screaming like a banshee, and flew towards them. Hermione gritted her teeth and cast a Water-Making Spell. They couldn't be too far from the wardline.

A cracking noise and a scream made her turn her head - just in time to see a flailing, jerking body falling into the sea, barely ahead of the boat.

"Lightning spell," Harry said.

The wardline! The pirate must have triggered one of the protections!

Hermione swallowed and kept the boat moving.

Now they would find out if the boat protected them against the wards.

*****​

They were at the wardline. Harry Potter clenched his teeth and held Céline. "It's OK," he whispered. "We'll be safe soon."

Or dead. Or captured, depending on the protections they'd trigger, if they were wrong about the boat being enchanted. But he couldn't tell the girl that. Even if he could speak French, he couldn't frighten her like that. If anything went wrong, it would be over quickly, anyway - judging by the example the pirate had made.

Who hadn't come up, he realised. The man had sunk under the water. If he hadn't cast a Bubble-Head Charm beforehand, he would…

Harry shook his head. That hadn't been his fault. Nor Hermione's. The pirate should've known better than to fly into his own wards. Even though Hermione had baited him. She could be rather ruthless. He tried to ignore the pain in his foot. Hermione's crazy plan had made him bang it against the boat's hull several times.

They passed the floating remains of a broom, and Harry closed his eyes. Any moment now. Any moment…

Seconds passed. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and looked back. The island had disappeared. They were outside the wards! They had escaped the island! Yes! "We did it!" he blurted out.

Then another bird blew up. Right. The pirates couldn't follow them, but they could still send spells after them.

"We need to get on our brooms!" he snapped. "Quickly!"

"We need to take the boat with us!" Hermione protested. Her birds were now forming a sort of wall to their rear, with the pirates unable to flank and encircle them any more.

"We can summon it from afar," Harry replied, already pulling his broom out. "But we need to leave, and quickly. Before they follow us!"

"Alright," Hermione finally agreed. "You take Céline." She waved her wand, and more birds appeared.

"Of course!" Harry mounted the broom. "Come, join me!"

He needed to repeat himself twice before the trembling girl mounted the broom as well, sitting behind him.

Hermione was still conjuring and enlarging birds, but they seemed to die as quickly as she created them. And that meant she wouldn't be able to mount her broom and protect the boat.

Harry clenched his teeth. "Send the birds after them!"

A moment later, the remaining birds were flying straight back, towards the still disillusioned pirates.

"Get on your broom!" Harry snapped. And started casting Reductor Curses.

He had aimed the first curse at the left-most bird, but even so, the explosion took out two more birds.

His next curse took out two on the right.

Then most of the birds in the centre vanished in a green cloud. Something acid - he didn't recognise the spell. In exchange, he snapped off a pair of Stunners right back through the slowly drifting cloud.

Hermione had finally mounted her broom. "Let's go!" he yelled.

"Not yet!" She waved her wand. The boat shrank.

And the sea below exploded.

Harry heard Hermione scream a moment before the water engulfed them, and he was swatted away, thrown through the sky, his broom turning and twisting uncontrollably. And Céline was gone!

He gasped, forcing the broom to level out. "Accio Céline's clothes!" he yelled, flicking his wand.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then something flew through the steam and falling water. Towards him. The little girl! He reached out to grab her, pulling her onto the broom in front of him, this time.

She was drenched like Harry himself and crying and trembling, but alive. That left…

"Hermione!" he yelled. She had been closer - she would've been thrown off the broom and into the water. "Accio Hermione's clothes!"

Another figure shot towards him. Still on a broom. And coming in far too fast! Gasping, he grabbed Céline and rolled, just in time to avoid getting speared by Hermione's broom as she shot past him.

"Harry! What are you doing?"

He ended the spell. How had she managed… He saw the way she rode, legs sticking out, but still stuck to the broom… Oh. Of course, she would've stuck herself to the broom. "I thought you had fallen off!" he yelled back.

"What? How…"

She was interrupted by more Blasting Curses hitting the sea below them, showering them with more hot seawater. And a few other curses flew towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled.

"Yes!" Hermione shouted back.

And they were off, racing westwards, the pirates' curses quickly tapering off.

They had escaped the island and the pirates.

For now.

They still needed to reach land. And they were currently flying away from the African coast.

*****​

"We need to change course," Hermione Granger said as she flew closer to Harry and Céline. She tried to adjust her position on the broom, but she couldn't get comfortable. She needed to end the Sticking Charm, she realised, but if the pirates managed to send another Blasting Curse at them...

"Yes. But we can't do that in sight of the pirates!" Harry replied. "They'll be able to follow us, otherwise."

"They can't pass through their own spells without a boat," Hermione told him. They should've destroyed the other boats when they had the chance.

"They can shrink their boat and carry it to the wardline," Harry retorted. "I bet they're doing that."

"They still need to fly back and return," Hermione pointed out. "And they won't be able to rush forward."

"Still, we need to gain more distance to lose them," Harry said. "And we need to fly lower to the sea."

She clenched her teeth. Lower? Skimming the waves? Yes, that would allow them to hide from the pirates more easily, but… it would also make crashing into the water easier. No time to correct any mistake.

But they had no choice, so she guided her broom downward. Not quite as low as Harry took his - his shoes had to touch the tops of the waves when he flew over them! But low enough. Or so she hoped. If the pirates managed to follow them… they wouldn't be able to escape. Not with three people on two brooms. She knew that Harry was the better flyer, yet she had to slow down to keep pace with him.

But they had no choice. Shrinking Céline was too dangerous in their current position. Reeling from their fight and escape, on top of speeding brooms, tired after a sleepless night… it would be worse than that Charms test in third year after she hadn't slept at all for a day. That had been her most humiliating experience in class.

And she would happily switch to suffer through that for a month instead of fleeing from pirates on a looted broom.

She looked over her shoulder. She couldn't see any pirates, but since they were disillusioned… She should've left some birds at the wardline, to know when they were out of sight. But the pirates would have destroyed them anyway.

So, they had to play it safe. Fly straight away, to gain the most distance - and hope the pirates didn't catch up before they changed directions. It wasn't ideal, but, on the other hand, even if they were flying straight away, the pirates would have to search a large area of empty ocean. And as history showed, that was harder than it appeared.

She smiled. They could do this. Soon, they would be able to turn south, then east. The sun was still rising, but it was easy to determine the directions even without a Four-Point Spell. As long as they could see… She blinked, then frowned. Those clouds hadn't been in the sky earlier today, had they? The sky in the east was turning overcast.

Hermione bit her lower lip. Overcast wasn't bad. England had plenty of such weather. It would even be helpful if they didn't have to suffer the full tropical sun on their flight.

But the clouds were growing quite thick in the east. And quite dark.

They might have a problem at hand.

For the next ten minutes, she was looking back more to check the clouds rather than for pursuit. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, the sky was darkening. And the wind was growing stronger.

"We have a problem," she told Harry.

"Pirates?" He looked over his shoulder, and she saw his eyes widen. "Oh."

"No. Worse. A storm's brewing," she said.

"Yeah."

"We might be able to outrun it, but…"

"'Might', yes." Harry shook his head. "Can we fly around it?"

"We can try. We should head south anyway."

"Yes."

They turned south. The sun was still visible, if barely, and Hermione quickly checked their direction with the Four-Point Spell. Directly south.

"At least that should keep the pirates from following us," Harry said.

Hermione snorted. That was a very slim silver lining. Although they probably had better chances to survive a tropical storm than another pirate attack. Just how much better was the question.

They flew on, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they wouldn't be able to get out of the way of the storm before it overtook them. Hermione could already see the rain in the distance, the sky was now completely overcast and the winds were doing their best to push them off-course.

"We can't go on much longer," she told Harry - and she had to raise her voice, too, so she could be heard.

"We have to try," he replied. "The more distance we gain, the better!"

"We have to prepare for the storm!" she shot back.

"How?"

"By going underwater!"

"What?"

"We can ride out the storm underwater!"

Harry stared at her.

She stared back. It wasn't a perfect plan. Not even a good plan - they wouldn't be able to stay close to the surface but had to dive down at least a little. And the storm would mean the waters would be darker than normal. She really wasn't looking forward to spending hours underwater in the dark and probably cold as well, with only a Bubble-Head Charm to keep them alive.

But it beat trying to ride out a tropical storm in a fishing boat or on a broom. That would be suicide - the boat would be sunk, and the brooms would be dragged apart or battered into the water.

So, either way, they'd end up in the water, and Hermione would rather do it on her own terms. And with at least some time spent preparing.

"Alright," Harry said. "But you need to explain it to Céline."

Hermione winced but nodded. "Prepare the rope so we can tie ourselves to each other." They had to ensure they wouldn't be separated no matter what.

By the time she had explained things to Céline and had calmed the poor girl down, rain was hitting their Shield Charms, and it was as dark as if it were late in the evening. And the winds were already starting to overcome the brooms' enchantments.

It was time to dive.

Hermione recast the Bubble-Head Charms on herself and Céline while Harry tied them together and cast his own charm.

Then they lowered themselves into the water, shrunk the brooms and dived down.

*****​

The water was warm at the surface. But as they dived - clumsily, since they were tied and stuck together - it grew colder. Harry Potter leaned forward, pressing his head to Hermione's, so their Bubble-Head Charms overlapped. "We can't dive too deep," he said. "The cold will kill us."

"Hypothermia, yes," she agreed. "But we need to find a way to get neutral buoyancy. So we don't sink further and won't resurface either."

"Well, we better do it fast," Harry said. He glanced up. "The surface's already getting thrashed by wind and waves."

"Technically, the waves are the result of the wind," Hermione said.

He snorted in return.

"Alright. I've got some rocks with us. If we can enlarge them, we should be able to adjust our buoyancy," she went on.

"Let's get started," Harry said.

Hermione struggled a little to get the rocks out - he felt her arm wriggle between them and Céline as she pushed it into her pocket - but she finally managed to get them. "Hold them!"

"Alright." He held one in his hand. It was about the size of an egg.

Then he held a rock the size of a football in his hand - and had to grab it with both hands, awkwardly since he still held his wand, before it slipped and vanished in the depths.

"Let's see if that's enough. Just wait," Hermione said.

But a few minutes later, they were close to bopping on the surface, and only a hastily cast Enlargement Charm that turned the football-sized rock into a torso-sized small boulder dropped them before the storm dragged them away.

It took three more tries before they had a somewhat balanced buoyancy, and even so, Harry thought they were slowly descending. He'd have to keep an eye on that, even though Hermione declared that they were fine.

Clearly, they wouldn't be able to rest underwater during the storm. Not both of them together. "We'll have to take turns resting," he told Hermione.

"We should be fine in the water." He could barely make out that she was frowning; the light was almost completely gone.

"We're not stable. We might sink too low if we both fall asleep." Harry suppressed a yawn that threatened to overwhelm him right then - that would've been the worst timing; Hermione would offer to take first watch, and she had to be more exhausted than he was.

"But…" She yawned - he heard it more than he saw it.

"No 'but'. Sleep while I keep watch. I'll wake in an hour."

"Can you read your watch without light?"

"I can cast a Wand-Lighting Spell," he retorted.

"Oh, right. I thought it could attract fish, but…"

"You're exhausted. Rest," he repeated himself.

After some more grumbling, she finally agreed, and he soon felt her body relax. Céline had fallen asleep already. He hugged the girl with one arm - she was at the greatest danger of freezing.

They could only hope that the storm wouldn't last too long.

*****​

"Harry! Wake up! Harry!"

Harry Potter felt some pain in his side - someone had poked him - and opened his eyes. "What?"

"We need to resurface," Hermione told him. "Céline's shivering in her sleep, and I can't get her to wake up."

Harry cursed and looked up. Well, what he thought was up. He didn't see any light. "Is the storm still going on?"

"We'll have to find out," she replied. "If it's still going on…"

Harry nodded, clenching his teeth. If they couldn't get the boat out on the surface, Céline would…

Hermione flicked her wand, cancelling the charm on the rock, and Harry felt them slowly starting to move.

Then he saw a dim light above them, growing stronger. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

They broke surface thirty seconds later, and Harry took a deep breath - out of reflex; the Bubble-Head Charm was still working. The sky was still overcast, but the storm was… well, mostly gone. The waves were higher than when they had set out but manageable. And the rain had stopped.

"Let's get the boat out. We need to warm up Céline!" Hermione snapped.

Taking the boat out didn't take long - Harry held it up, and Hermione cancelled the Shrinking Charm on it. And his Shield Charm stopped the hull from braining him. Climbing into the boat took a little longer - or rather, after a few attempts, they resorted to levitating their clothes to get on board before the waves carried the boat away.

But then they were sitting inside the boat. Hermione cast a Drying Charm and then kept it going, letting the blast of hot air warm up Céline and Harry - her own clothes had dried up quickly, being rather smaller than the others'.

And Céline started to warm up as well; Harry could see her lips returning to their normal colour - well, he assumed they were her normal colour; he hadn't taken a good look at her during daylight so far.

But while she was still shivering and sniffling, she was awake again. She would live, as far as he could tell. Which was a great relief. If she had died because they hadn't been prepared to ride out a storm… Hermione would have never forgiven herself.

"So… now, do we head east? Or south then east?" he asked.

"Once we are able to use the brooms, South, then east - we don't know how far the storm drove us off-course," Hermione replied. "The storm, and the natural currents of the ocean. We can't take the risk of flying into the island's protections."

"What if we were dragged north and then east?" Harry asked.

"That's…" Hermione bit her lower lip. "That's unlikely. Very unlikely."

But he could hear some doubt in her voice. "We could fly west for a while, then head south," he suggested.

"We can't spend too much time on the ocean. Sooner or later, we'll have to rest, and keeping the boat out makes us vulnerable," Hermione retorted. "We should…" She gasped, her eyes widening.

Harry turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

A glowing thing was headed straight for them.

*****​