Disclaimer: Arr, I not be ownin' Harry Potter, yeh foolish landlubber, and I'll have yer tongue if yeh say otherwise!
Chapter 4 (Sneaking Aboard)
She blinked and squinted as the late afternoon sun hit her square in the eyes. The docks were directly in front of her, ships looking strangely barren with the sails taken in. She looked behind her, half expecting to see the door to the Wolfe's Head hovering in midair. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not when she only saw the animal trail from before. These abrupt scene changes were annoying, though it was nice not having to walk everywhere.
She returned her gaze to the harbor, eyes skimming over the ships. She recognized the Silver Doe almost instantly, though she wasn't sure how – they all looked nearly identical. The flag of a ship off by itself caught her eye as the wind played with it. Her face went cold – it was flying the Dark Mark. Well, there's the Blind Basilisk.
Malfoy was on the dock nearby with the three new crewmembers. He appeared to be stalling. Her eyes widened as she realized what the problem was; he didn't know which ship was the Doe.
She couldn't very well shout it out to him – not without the crew getting suspicious. Without thinking her plan through – or even coming up with one, to be honest – she started to run towards them.
"Drake! Drakieee!" she cried, feeling ridiculous but going with it. "Drakie, I couldn't let you leave yet!" she added, throwing herself into his arms. She heard the new crewmen snicker from behind her.
"I know you want me, Granger, but do try and restrain yourself," he murmured into her hair.
"Play along, you idiot," she hissed back. "The Silver Doe is the one second to the right." She pushed away from him a little and said louder, "You'll come meet me tonight, won't you?" she whined, mouthing 'Wolfe's Head' at him. "You can't go off an' leave me without a proper goodbye, now can you?"
He blinked and nodded almost imperceptibly. "I'll see if I can get away, luv."
She stood there, watching as he led the crew to the ship. One of the men clapped Malfoy on the back, and she started as she heard Neville's voice say, "That's one fine lookin' woman you've got, mate."
"Touch me again and the sharks will get a new chew toy, Shortstack," Malfoy said.
As impossible as it seemed, the town got even rowdier after dark.
She jerked back, letting out a small "eep," as a man fell, or was thrown off, a second story balcony. The man proceeded to get up, pull out his gun, and shoot at said balcony.
Originally, she'd figured it would be safer to wait outside, given the ruckus she'd caused earlier. Now, she wasn't so sure.
"'Ello poppet," a voice said behind her. She spun to find an obviously drunken man a few inches from her face. "Yeh lookin' fer a man? I can show yeh a real good time."
"The only thing fouler than your breath is your come-on line," she said, recoiling.
"Careful, luv, yeh wouldn't wan' ta 'urt me feelin's now, would yeh?" he said, reaching out to grab her.
"I'll hurt more'n that," she snarled, slapping his hands away.
"A feisty li'l'un, eh?" he said, displaying a set of crooked and disgusting teeth. "Jus' 'ow I like me women."
Clenching her jaw, she reached for her sword, only then remembering that she'd gotten rid of it in favor of a boot dagger. She started to will a new sword into her hand, but the git was reaching for her again. She dodged out of his reach, grabbing for the dagger instead. He grabbed her just as she brought it out, so she went with the motion, pressing the dagger against his neck so that he could feel it. His eyes widened.
"I said, 'no,'" she hissed dangerously. She shoved against his chest, hard, sending him staggering back a few steps and falling to the ground. "Now run along and sleep it off, you piss-brained sot."
She turned to walk away, but the sound of a weapon being drawn brought her up short. The man was back on his feet, a sword in his wavering grip, but he stopped short as another sword appeared at his throat.
"I believe the lady said no," Malfoy said.
"We was jus' 'avin' a bit o' fun," the man said. "I don' see what diff'rence it makes teh yeh."
"The difference," Malfoy sneered, pulling her into him with one arm, "is you were havin' it with my girl."
Hermione felt her eyebrows rise, but she wasn't about to protest in front of this drunken git.
The man's eyes widened and he mumbled something that might have been an apology before scuttling off to another part of town. The arm around her waist immediately released her.
"I could've handled that –" she started.
"You handled him admirably, Granger, but it hardly seemed fair once he pulled his sword," Malfoy interrupted.
She frowned. "You were there the whole time?"
"For most of it, yes. I found it quite apparent that you didn't need my assistance, up until that last point."
"Oh," she said. Harry and Ron were constantly rescuing her from things, even when she neither needed nor wanted their help. But Malfoy had waited to see if she needed it before stepping in – and she admitted that she had needed it at that point. It was a strange feeling. "Well… thank you."
Her words seemed to surprise him. "You're welcome."
There was an awkward moment before Hermione decided to change the subject. She quickly summarized what she'd heard in the pub, finishing with, "We need to find that treasure and return it to Beesting."
Malfoy frowned, "How do you figure that?"
She shrugged. "It's just how these kinds of stories go. We'll probably have to face Snakeface at some point too, but I know the treasure is important."
He sighed. "Fine. How do you suggest we go about getting it, then?"
"Well, first we need to get the map. I saw the Blind Basilisk in the harbor earlier – we just need to sneak aboard and take it."
He stared at her as if that damned singing head had once again popped from her ear, and had brought its sister to boot.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Malfoy grumbled as they neared the Basilisk.
"Hush!" she hissed, ducking behind some nearby crates that were stacked on the dock and checking for anyone who had heard or seen them.
"There's no one here," Malfoy commented from the top of the gangplank.
"Malfoy! How did you get up there so fast!? Get down from there before someone sees you!" she cried, trying to keep her voice quiet.
"Who's going to see me? Even those damned birds are asleep." The sound of footsteps in the companionway jerked his head around. "Oh sh…" he said, diving behind a line of barrels onboard.
"Go guard the ship, Rat, they says," a small man grumbled as he appeared on deck. "We'll save you some rum, Pete, they says. I should've known, I should've. They're always doin' it to me. They're all sleepin' like logs, and is there even a bit o' rum left? Nooo, sir. Well I've had it wit' them. We'll see what the cap'n has teh say about this, we will." Moonlight glinted off the silver hook he had in place of his right hand as he scurried past her hiding place.
When he was out of sight, she quickly climbed the gangplank, finding Malfoy crouched behind a barrel. She raised an eyebrow in a silent 'I told you so' then jerked her head towards the captain's quarters. "He's gone to get Snakeface – which means he's not on board. I expect the map will be in his quarters. Let's hurry before they come back," she whispered.
He nodded and they quickly crossed the deck, entering the richly furnished room at the back of the ship. They began searching for the map, but she stopped short as cold steel pressed into her neck.
A/N: -hides from thrown vegetables- I'll have the next chapter soon I promise!
Thank you for all the reviews!