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They were starving when they awoke. Hermione was faring better than Ron, who was accustomed to eating several large meals a day. He'd already begun to lose weight. Ron cut open a pair of coconuts for breakfast before they went off to the pier to fish. He was in a particularly dour mood. "Do you think anyone will find us?"

"Dumbledore will find us. I'm sure of it."

Another body had made it to the shore, along with an intact wooden chair. The body of a man was lying against the natural pier, feet still in the water. It was Snape. Hermione and Ron stood in silence watching the water flow over Snape's feet. They were sure he was dead.

"We can't let the crabs eat him," said Ron. "It just wouldn't be right."

They slowly approached Snape's body. Neither one wanted to be the first to touch him. Hermione knelt down beside his head. "Maybe we should say a few words."

"Like what," said Ron, "here lies the Greasy Git? Or how about this, The Great Bat of the Dungeons shall flap no more?"

"Ronald! I know you're hungry, but this isn't the time for sarcasm." Hermione leaned over and smoothed Snape's tangled hair away from his face. His eyes fluttered giving Hermione a start.

"It's just a crab—"

"No, he moved." Hermione felt his neck for a pulse. "He's alive, Ron!"

Ron dropped his fishing spear. "I'll get his shoulders, you get his legs."

They carried Snape's unconscious form back to their campsite as fast as Ron's hobbled leg would allow. Snape's face, torso, and arms were very sunburnt; his legs were not. "He must've been clinging to that chair," said Hermione as she poured a cup of water for Snape. Ron sat behind him, holding his head up. Snape's eyes fluttered again, but he didn't wake. He choked and spat the water out. It took a few more tries, but Hermione finally managed to get a little water in him. "We'll try him again a bit later." Ron cut open another coconut. He and Hermione shared the water, and Hermione smeared the meat onto Snape's blistered sunburnt skin.

"You go on, Ron. I'll stay with him."

"I can't leave you. Those three are watching you like hawks."

"We can't leave Snape alone, and we can't live on just coconuts. I'll be fine."

Ron slipped his knife out of its scabbard and handed it to her. "Keep it with you." He hobbled back to his fishing spear, stopping frequently to look back at Hermione. She busied herself by tidying their bed and fussing about the unconscious Snape. Ron found it difficult to focus on fishing. All he could think about were those three perverts getting at Hermione. He had an accidental stroke of luck. He'd launched his spear at a small fish and missed it, but another, much larger, fish tried to shoot past and Ron nailed it. It was dead almost instantly. He ran back to Hermione with the fish still on his spear.

The three men were standing around her when Ron returned. They seemed to be interested in Snape. Dutch was drinking straight out of the coffee pot and spilling water all over the sand. Tom was stalking around their campsite. Flame stood next to Hermione and was engaged in a conversation with her. He'd chosen to be shirtless today.

"So how's your boyfriend?" said Flame.

"He's fine. He's fishing," replied Hermione curtly.

"I meant him," said Flame as he pointed to Snape. "I thought the other one was your brother." The other two men laughed. Dutch spluttered water everywhere. There was something in the sound of their forced laughter that made Hermione very nervous. "But I'm open-mined," continued Flame. "A girl can have two boyfriends if she wants, but I think old Greasy might need replacing."

"Get away from her!" shouted Ron.

"Hey there, Red," said Flame pleasantly. "We were just entertaining your sister while you were gone."

Tom rounded the campsite and Ron turned his attention to him, which was precisely what Tom had intended. Ron was distracted enough for Flame to grab the fishing spear out of his hand. Dutch stepped forward and knocked Ron off his feet. The men seemed to be performing a well-practiced routine. Hermione shouted Ron's name. Dutch turned to her. "Better teach your brother some manners; otherwise I might have to do it." He turned to Tom, pointed at Ron's fish, and said, "Breakfast." Tom smiled and took the spear from Flame. He carried it back to his campsite, removed the fish, and stuck the spear upright in the sand.

Dutch dropped the coffee pot in the sand and followed Tom. Flame winked at Hermione and said, "We'll talk later." He went back to his campsite and started a fire, then lay down in the sand to watch Tom cook.

Ron rose to his feet. "Did they touch you?"

"No." She watched him look over to the men, his face and ears flushed with rage. "Ron, don't!" But he ignored her and stomped over to them. Tom, absorbed in his cooking duties, ignored him. Dutch rose and stared at him, but said nothing. Flame rolled onto his back and smiled; he laughed heartily when Ron pulled his fishing spear out of the sand and hobbled back to Hermione.

Ron and Hermione chose to stay close to camp for the rest of the day. Ron refused to leave Hermione, and neither thought it a good idea to leave Snape alone. There was no choice but to content themselves with coconuts. It was silly and they knew it, but they both felt a little safer now that Snape was with them. They turned in early, and awoke just as dawn was breaking. They both felt a little sick from hunger. Eating coconuts was rapidly becoming a repugnant activity. Hermione poured a cup of coconut water for Snape. He roused when Ron tried to lift his head.

Snape flailed. "It's alright, sir. It's me, Ron Weasley." Snape settled. He looked around for a few moments, getting his bearings, before slowly and painfully sitting up. Hermione handed him the cup of coconut water, but Snape refused it.

"My bladder refuses to hold any more liquid, Miss Granger."

"We dug a latrine over there, sir," said Ron. He rose, helped Snape to his feet, and escorted him to it. Ron waited at a polite distance away from Snape while he relieved himself. Snape walked slowly and groggily back to camp with Ron at his side. He stopped suddenly and lurched forward. Ron caught him and half-carried him back to camp.

"Something's wrong!" hollered Ron in a panic.

"He's just hungry, Ron. He hasn't eaten in two days." Again Hermione proffered the cup of water. Snape's hands were shaking, so Hermione held the cup for him. He took a few sips before feeling strong enough to take the cup himself. Ron scraped out coconut meat onto a little biscuit plate from their half-tea set and handed it to Snape. He ate it quickly. "Don't eat too fast, sir," said Hermione, but he ignored her. Snape set the plate down and rested his head on his knees.

"All waked up, Greasy?" said Flame from a few feet away. He'd chosen to be naked today, and was presently urinating, in full view, onto the sand. He blew a kiss at Hermione when he finished.

Ron rose and dumped the remainder of the coffee pot's water onto the puddle of urine. "Ron, you shouldn't waste fresh water like that."

"I wasn't going to use that after Dutch drooled in it. Besides the pee attracts bugs, and we've all got enough bites on us as it is." Ron plunked down next to Snape, who pointed at Ron's knee. "Just a bad bruise, sir," explained Ron. "I think I can take the splints off tomorrow."

Snape's eyes flitted over to Flame, who was presently dancing around merrily, making the other two laugh. "He's like a wild dog," said Ron. "He pees everywhere." Weasley and Granger thought his behavior was offensive, but Snape recognized it for what it really was. Flame was marking his territory, and he clearly viewed Snape as his greatest threat.

"Wands?" croaked Snape. He cleared his throat and took another sip of water.

"No, sir," answered Hermione.

"How much food do we have?"

"Just a bunch of coconuts, sir," replied Ron.

"Ron's managed to spear some fish, but those men have started to steal from us."

Snape spied groups of crabs running around the beach. "What about the crabs?"

"We don't know how to kill them,' replied Hermione. "And I won't cook anything alive. It's barbaric."

Snape set down his plate and rose. "Start a fire, Granger. Weasley come with me." He picked up a rock from the fire-pit and strolled to the shoreline. He snatched the first crab he came across, turned it on its back, and bashed it with the rock. He gave the dead crab to Ron. "Which is the leader," whispered Snape.

"What?"

"Those men," said Snape.

"Oh," said Ron. "I thought you meant the crabs." Snape glared at him. "That big Dutch fellow controls Tom for sure, but I don't know about Flame. He's a bit of a nutter. You'll see what I mean tonight."

"Tonight?" repeated Snape. "You don't think this information is pertinent now?"

"Trust me, sir. It'll be much clearer if you see for yourself."

Snape was too tired and sore to argue. "Listen carefully, Weasley. Miss Granger is not to be left alone for any reason, and we two should never be out of each other's sight."

Ron felt a little indignant. "I've got five older brothers, sir, I can handle myself."

"Since your comprehension is clearly limited, Mr. Weasley, I shall be blunt. Miss Granger is the only female present. We are all that stands between her and a tortuous existence at the hands of three rapists. Those men are experienced criminals. They will attempt to separate and eliminate us individually. They are not patient men; they won't wait for me to regain my strength. Let us not help them attain their goals by behaving unreasonably."

Ron's vigor drained at Snape's words. He stood dumbfounded holding six dead crabs in his hands.

"Miss Granger has lit the fire." Snape walked back to the campsite with a weak-feeling Ron hobbling behind him.

The three men watched them, but didn't attempt to steal their crabs as Dutch claimed to be allergic to shellfish. Dutch sent Tom off to a much larger and longer natural pier that was close to their camp to fish for dinner. Snape appeared to be ignoring the men, but he watched them carefully with his peripheral vision. He showed Ron and Hermione how to prepare the crabs before cooking, and didn't let them rest after their meal. They walked the beach down to Ron's fishing pier. Snape walked the length of it and looked out into the water at seaweed floating a few yards away.

"Sir," said Hermione. "You should be resting."

"Why have you not collected any seaweed, Miss Granger?"

"It's too far out, sir, and what washes up on the beach is inedible."

"Can neither of you swim?"

"There are too many sharks, sir," said Ron.

"There are lots of bull sharks close to the shore. They've been known to attack people, and…well Ron and I thought it too risky to get into the water with them."

A small one, about three feet long, swam past the pier. Snape pointed at it. "Is that what you're afraid of?"

"There are much larger ones, sir," said Ron.

"And there's another," added Hermione. "I think it's a tiger shark. It's very large and striped. It followed me in to shore, and it keeps coming back."

"We see it every day at all different times."

Snape took Ron's spear and peered at the water. "Tell me if either of you see anything in the water." He leaned as far out as he could, trying to snag some seaweed.

"I've seen those bloody things jump, sir!" said Ron.

Snape leaned back. "How accurate is your wandless magic?"

Hermione looked at the ground, and Ron stammered. Snape exhaled angrily and handed the spear back to Ron. "Take this, Weasley. Your reach is longer than mine." Ron moved next to him while Snape focused on a patch of seaweed. It moved slowly toward them against the current. Ron snagged it, wrapped as much as he could around his spear, and pulled it back.

"Smell it, Weasley."

"It smells fishy."

"That is edible," said Snape. "If it smells rotten; it is rotten."

"I'm not sure I want to eat this. It's all slimy," said Ron with a grimace.

"Seaweed contains a great many nutrients, and we need to exploit all the food sources that we can," replied Snape. He put his hand to his head and began to sway a little. The exertion was too much for him, and he was beginning to feel weak and dizzy.

"You need to lie down, sir," said Hermione.

This time Snape took her advice. They went back to camp, and he lay down on the table linen. He gave a single instruction before falling asleep. "Put the seaweed in the coffee pot and boil it."

"Do you feel like cooking more crabs, Hermione?"

"I'll cook anything, Ron. I'm famished."

They wrapped the crabmeat in seaweed leaves and drank the greenish water the seaweed had been boiled in. They made sure to leave some broth for Snape. He slept until dusk. Hermione practically poured the broth down his throat when he awoke. Ron fetched more crabs, and they had a second helping of crabmeat and seaweed.

"He's starting," said Ron softly.

"Watch this, Professor," said Hermione.

Flame's evening ritual had begun. He'd gathered firewood, far too much of it, and built a large bonfire. He was now using dry palm leaves to light it. Dutch had a lighter that he kept in his pocket. He loaned it to Flame for this purpose only, and always demanded it be given back when it was no longer needed. Tom waited impatiently as his fish were ready to be cooked. Flame stood upright; mesmerized as the little flickering flames grew larger. Dutch snatched his lighter out of Flame's hand.

Tom knelt down and disappeared behind the growing wall of flames. Flame stooped and pushed a stick farther into the fire. Tom shot up screaming and patting his stomach. His undershirt had caught fire. Dutch threw him down, kicked sand at him, and told him to roll. Flame jumped around and clapped agitatedly, his high-pitched excited laughter echoing down the beach. Tom rose and began shouting and swearing at Flame. He chased Flame around the bonfire until Dutch told him to stop and finish cooking the fish.

"That was entertaining," said Ron.

"He obviously didn't get his name from his mustache."

"That would explain the scars on his hands," said Snape casually. He spoke more to himself than to the children, essentially thinking aloud. A plan would be needed, and he was trying to calculate the best course of action. It wouldn't be easy because not only was Flame an aggressive pervert, he was also an unpredictable lunatic. "I'll take the first shift."

"Pardon, sir?" said Hermione.

"Miss Granger you'll sleep between Mr. Weasley and myself. Weasley, I'll wake you in a few hours. If either of you need to rise for any reason, you are to wake the other two. Is that clear?"

Ron settled between the fold of linen. He pulled his knife from its scabbard and handed it to Snape. "You might need this, sir." He laid down and was snoring within ten minutes. Hermione settled next to him watching Snape. He was sitting cross-legged on her other side sipping coconut water. Thoughts of their current predicament turned over in her mind. How bizarrely amusing it was, she in her pink sleep shorts and matching tank top, Snape in his grey boxer shorts, and Ron in his navy blue plaid ones. She hoped she would live long enough to look back on this time and see the humor of it all without being reminded of their desperation. But then, they had less to worry about now that Professor Snape was there. He would, no doubt, be getting stronger in the following days and, somehow, that thought made she and Ron hopeful.