The man was swinging from the ropes with enthusiasm as they took to the open sea. Oh the wild air and salt in his lungs, he was alive! When he landed near the forecastle, he groaned with a grin. The rest of the crew was busily tugging and tying off as he took the line and did the same. It was a fantastic afternoon to make sail, and everyone was eager to be back out at sea.

"Pads! Come on over," Prongs yelled over at the helm.

Padfoot slipped by a few crewmen and sauntered to Prongs and with a wave. "The winds be kind," he declared with a grin.

When the dusky-haired pirate finally was within talking distance, the taller man who was steering the ship groaned. "What is this business about the girl?" Prongs questioned.

Padfoot flailed his gloved hand and exhaled. "I don't know, but he's in belief she's some magic user."

"I can see her being useful," A squeaky voice interrupted them.

Prongs turned around and noted Wormtail had come about from whatever he was scrounging for on deck. "Why you sneak about so much?" He snapped at the small grubby man.

"Now, Prongs, don't be cruel. He's doing his bidding," Moony's voice rang out over the huffing of waves.

The Marauders turned to see their captain climb from his doorway with a smirk. "Oh, Moony!" Padfoot exclaimed with a grin as he shuffled toward the captain. "You look positively glorious, how was she?" he snickered with wagging eyebrows.

Moony brushed a gloved hand against his revealed chest and chuckled. "You know how it goes with fair maidens. Soft sighs and wanton thighs, Pads."

Padfoot rolled his eyes and ducked closer to the man. "Really, though. How is she?" he breathed.

"She's fine; I helped her with some proper attire. Why did you dress her so?" Moony asked with a slight scowl.

Padfoot chuckled and tugged Moony closer. "Because she's a pretty lass, Moony. Something I know you love to look at."

Moony elbowed him and exhaled. "Leave it to the sea, Pads. Let's get up North, and we'll see what Dumbledore has to say, alright?"

The crew continued with their work, while Moony looked on… taking to thoughts on possibly what to do with their little witch.


Hermione waited until Remus had made for bed before she abandoned her book. She was sitting on the bench staring out the window at the endless darkness when she noted him peeling his shirt from his torso. Hermione couldn't help it, she just watched. The man was dirty and scarred, but now she could see his youth- he must have been just a bit younger than when she met him in third year. Her book fell from her hands and thumped on the floor.

"Miss Granger," he hummed as he tugged off his boots.

Hermione turned her face from the captain and focused on the darkness outside.

"Can I ask you a question?" He inquired.

Hermione curled her shoulders toward her lap and glanced over at him. "Yes?"

He was wiping his face with a cloth and glancing at the mirror hanging on the wall. "What do you plan to do after we make port?"

Her face was still heated as she watched his body move. Had she not noticed his form earlier? Were those silvery scars on his side before? What about the hairy trail down his stomach past his hips? Hermione wasn't sure if she had seen nor noted any of this when she was but a youth.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione cleared her throat and sat up. "I'm not sure. I suppose I will figure out when I get there. I'd like to find my way home," she said.

Remus was now taking a small knife to his face as he trimmed around his mouth. "That sounds difficult. Maybe we can assist in finding what source of magic you might need."

"Now, why would pirates do that?" Hermione inquired as she exhaled.

He tossed the knife in a drawer and waved his hand. "Where there's magic, there's treasure, love."

"Now, I would believe that from Sirius, but not you."

Remus laughed as he ran his fingers over his face. "You do know us, don't you? I don't think we've ever met. I would know of a woman who can read and use her brain."

"Believe me, I know both you and Sirius very well," Hermione declared with a small smile. "You were particularly fond of books and learning."

The captain was glancing in the mirror, but she could see his wheels turning when he stared at her in the reflection. "I still am. I'm just better at hiding it."

"I don't see why you would have to. I'm sure it takes plenty of intellect to head a crew," Hermione murmured as her fingers combed her salt-crusted hair.

He pressed his lips together before speaking. "You do know more than I expected; that's to be certain."

"So do you," she said with a smile.

He stroked his stomach and yawned as he faced her. "Why don't you get some air before sleep. I need to wash up, and I'd rather not have an audience."

Hermione stood up and stretched in her new wears. She still wasn't used to the relaxed feeling of the pants being hugged by the belt. Unfortunately, the shirt had to be tied off in front of her, and most of her abdomen was showing. She maneuvered around him, but he snagged her arm.

Remus's chest was heaving as he glanced down at her. "Don't speak to anyone but Padfoot, Wormtail or Prongs. I don't want anyone to know why you're here."

Her eyes were large as she stared up at him. "Okay."

"Miss Granger, I mean it," He hissed as his thumb kneaded her forearm.

"Yes, captain," she sighed.

The intensity in his eyes lessened. "That sounds lovely off your tongue," he said with a small curve to his lips.

Hermione yanked her arm from him and walked toward the exit. She didn't answer him- mostly because that wasn't the older professor she had known. None of this was. There wasn't much she could say to anything she's experienced so far and that included the captain taking a knife to her clothing to shape it.

When the sea air greeted her face, she breathed deeply. It was freeing after the clouded isolation. The sky was filled with stars as the boat bounced softly on the waves as it paved forward. Hermione wandered over the deck as she noticed it was barren of workers say for two at the wheel of the ship. They must have a steady course.

The woman walked toward the front and observed the waves cut against the ship. "You know, love, you're a hard one to pin down," a familiar voice announced as she leaned forward.

"How so, Sirius?"

"You have this smell about you. Something, amusing," Sirius murmured as he tucked next to her.

Hermione scratched her chin as she stifled a smile. "I wonder what you mean."

The man tapped the wood and chuckled. "So, life and its glory, you happen to just fall into our laps. Seems to me too likely to be coincidence."

"Then what?"

"You see, I have this rather unique theory if you care to listen," Sirius declared with a grin.

Hermione waved and exhaled. "Okay, but mostly because I know you'll say it anyway."

Sirius moved closer toward her and tilted his head. "You know us rather well, love. Well, where ever you came from, you know how to handle yourself." When she squared her arms off with a hint of glare, Sirius bowed profoundly taking his flashy feathered hat off. "I don't mean to offend," he murmured as he glanced up at her. "However, my theory is that it isn't happenstance that we crossed paths."

"Hardly," she exhaled and waved the man off. "What I'm trying to figure out is how I know so much but so little of you all at the same time. A different tint."

"As in?"

Hermione raised a finger and sighed. "I must be dreaming due to the fact that in my existence, you all are dead."

That drew the marauder's attention- his posture stiffened as his grey eyes glinted in the lanterns stationed near. "That's not possible. Why would we be dead?"

"Stranger things have happened. Trust me. I'm not a fan of the idea either."

The pirate straightened his coat and arched an eyebrow as he closed the distance. "You and I? We made magic together?"

Hermione was shifting her head in thought, at least until she saw his grin. "Ugh, no! Sirius, you were old enough to be my father!" She hollered and shoved him.

He barked a stream of laughter. "That's never stopped me before!"

The woman pushed past him, stomping toward the captain's cabin. However, Sirius pursued with a skip to his step. He cornered the witch against the wall nearest the door and smirked at his entrapped prize. "I think you thought about it. You wanted it, but it was forbidden fruit. How about it, love? Tell ole Padfoot the truth."

Hermione's anger melted to a smooth sneer as she touched his cheek with her hand. "Oh, yes, every night," she said lowly.

Sirius grinned and drew closer. "I could provide," he couldn't finish because the woman stomped on his boot and smacked him.

"Don't think you can play your games with me, Sirius Black!" She screamed and marched into the captain's cabin, slamming the door.

Sirius stood there a moment with a pout at his ego's injury as well as the physical ones. "She does know quite a bit about you," Wormtail's voice entered the space.

The tall dusky-haired pirate smirked over at the man lurching behind the buckets. "It's all a good chase, my friend."

"Moony said behave earlier," Wormtail grumbled, not staring Padfoot in the eye.

"Cross my heart," Padfoot snickered and walked toward the hatch. "Go on in, Wormtail, no more lurching about."

"Yes, Pads," he hissed, and he watched the man disappear underneath.

He would relieve Prongs of steering if only to sort out his own estimations on their new passenger.

On the other side of the door…

Hermione covered her mouth and pinched her eyelids together. Wake up, just wake up. She repeated that mantra in her mind several times before opening her eyes to see the cabin. It was crushing. The witch had done so well to keep it together, but this was absurd. The fear bubbling in her chest wasn't quelched by any measure of self-assurance that they were the same people. The fact is, they weren't. What of her, was she ever going to get home?

Those horrible questions rang in her mind as she collected herself enough to see that Remus was already in bed. He had his hat tilted over his eyes and a book stretched across his chest. That made the moment almost endearing and refreshingly familiar. The witch succumbed to needing rest herself, crawling on the edge of the bed and laying across the blankets.

The tears came as she watched the lantern flicker and sway with the waves. Would she ever get home? To the ministry. All of her family she found in the Weasleys. Even her argument that set her and Ron on a crash course of near devastation was missed in these foreign waters. Her home.

The woman sobbed silently, but the glinting eye of her bedmate peered from underneath the hat at the woman's back. Her collapse was not only identified but wholly understood. He let the woman find the silence of sleep instead of interrupting her breakdown. Sometimes the most poignant messes, are very much required to make something extraordinary.