Selkies and Sparrows

Summary: When Jack Sparrow sailed into Port Royal that sunny day, it was his intention to commandeer one of those ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer his weaselly black guts out. What he ended up with was a young Selkie who used to go by the name of Harry Potter, but is currently in hiding from his friends, his enemies, and, most importantly, his destiny.

Parings: Jack Sparrow/Harry Potter (in other words, Slash. Non-slash people, ye be warned.)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine and neither, sad to say, is Pirates of the Caribbean, in any shape, form or manner except the one with purple tassels hanging from the corners.

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"If you want to leave, take good care
Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot, I'd beware"

Cat Stevens, 'Wild World'

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The Sea Wolf

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Jack turned around, only to come face to eyes with a pair of deep green pools, so dark they appeared almost black.

The thing had the audacity to bark happily at him, dumping the infernal bottle on his toe again as it opened its mouth.

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It was a strange sight that finally crested the horizon and entered Port Royal. To the observer, they looked quite a dramatic pair – the Captain poised atop the mast, cutting a striking figure against the endless sea with his braids and open coat flying in the wind, and the elegant and sleek seal dancing before the bow like a herald leading a procession.

A dramatic pair indeed.

Of course, the observer would be too dazzled by awe – and quite possibly the bright sun overhead, if truth be told – to notice how the little boat leaked, and how Jack's stern and commanding gaze was not due to his serious, captain-ly demeanor, but to the fact that he was trying to communicate his thoughts to the seal below him with just his will power alone.

And really, why else would he be standing at the top of the mast if not to get as far away as humanly possible from the annoying… creature that just would not leave him alone? It was so logical that the observer should be sent to the brig for asking such a question in the first place.

Not that Jack was scared of the scallywag – this is Captain – Captain! – Jack Sparrow. He doesn't do scared. He runs away from it, as any fool knows. Where was he again?

The seal. They had had a slight disagreement when they first encountered each other, namely consisting of Jack giving a manly shout a sprawling elegantly backwards while kicking the bottle up, and the seal being hit with said bottle and squeaking (hah, squeaking. Point to Jack, seal thingy) as it dived back into the water. But not before whacking Jack's toe – his broken toe, mind you – with his tail in retaliation on the way there.

The result of the following meaningful discussion was a compromise – Jack would stay out of spitting distance, splashing distance, and general maiming distance, and his new companion would thus not be able to spit at him, splash him or generally maim him.

It was a good compromise.

But it needed leverage.

What did Jack have that the seal might want?

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Racing through the water beside the Surface Seal, dipping in and out of the bow wave, alternatively swimming under the larger Seal's shadow and threading through the wave crests in front of it… If the Selkie had been able, he would have laughed in joy. He hadn't felt this… happy, for almost longer than he could remember. When he searched his mind, he saw a flash of gold, the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair, the race and the thrills and the sheer freedom of speed… It wasn't that different, really, from what he felt now. And it was one of the few memories beyond his current life that didn't invoke pain, grief or restrictions and limitations piling up and trapping him down a path he never wanted –

He whistled sharply to distract himself from those thoughts, concentrating instead on his new Pack member. He had tried, after the slight confusion at first, to investigate the strange scent the Not-Landling had at his core. He hadn't been able to fully identify the scent – mainly because the Not-Landling had grabbed his muzzle in an iron grip and waved something shiny at him. He hadn't meant to hurt his Pack, but foreign instincts had risen too fast for him to stop them, prompting him to twist away and make an (only just) aborted attempt at attack.

Looking back, it was clear what had happened – his Pack member was acting in his position as an Alpha to show his authority. He just hadn't had an Alpha for so long, it had come as a shock. And now his Pack – his Alpha maybe? – was ignoring him as punishment for it. The Selkie allowed himself a quiet, disconsolate trill in the cool shadow underneath the Surface Seal before returning to leap amongst the spray again.

Being with a Pack made him so… content, so complete, that he felt he would do anything for his Alpha. He wouldn't put that at risk by being sulky about following orders, no matter how much he wanted to throw a tantrum and… blast the bejesus out of the practice dummies?

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Maybe Seals liked rum?

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Curious, the Selkie followed that thought, drawing his foreign memories closer for once instead of closing them off. They came at a rush, startling him and making him squeal in distress as he frantically struggled out of them, like swimming through tar or clawing his way to consciousness despite the pain and the suffocating weight of the memories –

And suddenly, as soon as it had happened, it was stopped in the cool flood of memories from the Storms. They filled him with calm surety, drowning the previous confusion as surely as it had almost drowned him. In his mind's eye, he saw images of fire falling from the sky to strike Surface Seals and free them from the pact with the Landlings, allowing them to sleep in peace beneath the waves. He saw dark, ominous clouds gather and violent winds call the Sea to war, while the Storms sounded their battle cries and light flashed in the sky. He saw the powerful, all encompassing Sea rise up like the vengeful Storms themselves, and crush the Landlings foolish enough to stand before it…

There was triumph and power woven into his joy as he whistled again, leaping forwards dramatically to somersault in the air. Blast the bejesus out of the Landlings, and let them know the true power of the Storms, the power their children wielded.

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The almost vicious sound made Jack look down, wincing slightly as it seemed to pierce his ears. Below him, the boat was already half filled with water, so much so that the small bucket stashed under the mast was in danger of floating out over the side. Momentarily forgetting his resolution to stay out of maiming distance, Jack leapt down to land in the ankle deep water with a satisfying thud.

Drawn by the noise, his marine companion paused in his endless play to lift his head above the water questioningly, swimming along on his back to support himself. Jack looked up, and grinned evilly as a thought came to him.

"Payback time, subordinate Sea Wolf," he muttered, filling the bucket with salty water. A few seconds and a well aimed swing later, Jack was left feeling happily triumphant while the newly christened Sea Wolf fled beneath the waves with a startled squeal. His smug grin was wiped off his face a second later however when the seal retaliated, aiming the thin stream of sea water with almost unreal accuracy. And who knew there was that much space in a seal's mouth?

"Ack! Blepth! Stop, damnit!" he spluttered, dropping the bucket as he waved his arms in front of his face in an attempt to protect himself. Suddenly catching sight of something on the shore, he stopped, lowering his arms as he squinted to sea better. A squirt of water right up his nose reminded him of the seal's presence, and he responded sharply without thinking; "Enough, Wolf."

The stern and commanding tone made the Selkie stop immediately, dipping his head below the water in chagrin. Looking up to see what had caught his Alpha's gaze, his dark eyes took in the four dead bodies suspended from a rocky arch. Next to them hung a sign with strange patterns on it that he thought he should have recognized.

Even without knowing the significance of the misfortunate pirates and the warning sign, Wolf noticed Jack's reaction to them and saw how he touched his hand to his hat in what was clearly a Landling sign of respect. Diving below the water, the Selkie swam away from the boat a ways, then shot up to the surface with all the power he could muster. Breaking the surface, he flipped over backwards in the air, spraying water in all directions as he did so, before sliding smoothly back below the water.

When he surfaced again next to the boat and regarded his Alpha with warm, liquid eyes, Jack paused for a moment, watching him. Finally the pirate Captain seemed to come to a decision, and nodded solemnly. For once, he didn't even spoil the moment with any of his natural oddness.

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A/N: The term 'Sea Wolf' was coined by Christopher Columbus in 1493, used to describe the Caribbean Monk Seal.

As promised yesterday, the next chapter is here! It's a short chapter, I know, but I thought you'd prefer this now rather than wait any longer. Hopefully, the next chapters shouldn't have such a long wait between them (for which I am really sorry… I think I tried about five different versions of this chapter before I found one I liked).

And the reviews… Wow! Thank you sooo much! I bow down to you, oh great and mighty reviewers! --Worship, worship-- I'm glad that you all seem to like my Jack – I must be doing something right with him!

Some of you asked some interesting questions, and I will definitely think about all of them – a couple made me rethink some of my plans for this story, noticing where I'd left things out. I won't answer them here, but they will be answered during the course of the story, never fear!

Also, do people like the style that shows what Harry and Jack are thinking? It moves slower than 'plain' text, but it's fun to write. I'm open to either option really, it depends on which you prefer.

Thank you to Ocelot12, this fish flies (Alas, procrastination. I knew him well), lemmesee, Kakeru-chibi, The Red Dragons Order, The Plot Bunny Whisperer, sea-cucumbers-are-evil, Rabid Lawn Gnome, SeulWolfe, Lazy-Hime, Serpent91, kagedfox, Wraith, Catzi, Come like shadows, Ie-maru, gemlou137, love2bug63670, kirallie (Wow, questions! Eh… can I get back to you with those answers?), Jigoku-Kouzanchou, Deserter (Not quite this chapter, I'm afraid, but sometime soon he will), Ore no Naruto, BlueB, Shadow Bete Noire, Firehedgehog, A Brighter Dawn, lady sakura cosmos, Heavenly Dancer, Dadaiiro, demanicangel, Chibi of Many Names, XxRoadKillxX, storywriter10791, Touch of the Wind, likit (Close guess with Jack's scent, although I'm afraid you won't find the real truth until Harry does. And nope, I don't mind at all. Ask away!), yllom21, Devious Ava, Inuyasha's hun, Merrymow, Wolven Spirits, iluvchocs, PissedOffFairy and Wraith (again!)

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