"Filius please, I've nearly got them on board," Arthur screamed anxiously, "I just need that final strength!"

"Arthur! Fleur is on the brink of death, I need to help her first."

"But I'm so close Filius!" Arthur reasoned, as the splashing salt water stung his eyes.

"Fleur will die if I don't help her now. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?"

Arthur looked into Flitwick's eyes as if he was about to argue back, but then shook his head and directed his attention back to the task at hand.

"Quickly!" Arthur said begrudgingly, as he struggled to pull one of the people on board.

Flitwick raced back over to Fleur and grabbed the towels Kreacher had been throwing on her. He then proceeded to wrap them very tightly around her body as if she was in a cocoon.

"Hold her extremely still, Kreacher!" Flitwick directed urgently.

THUMP!

The tiny charms professor directed his attention back over to Arthur and the new passenger now on board. The unmistakeable figure of Aunt Muriel was almost blue and her eyes were tightly shut. Her hair was covering most of her face and her heavy gown was drenched with the icy water.

"I'm going to need some help with this next one, Filius!" Arthur howled, pointing to the upside down figure of Horace Slughorn, floating in the water.

"Arthur if we pull him on board too quickly he could flip the boat! It'll be too unbalanced." Flitwick voiced.

"It's okay Filius. Fleur and Kreacher are on the other side of the vessel."

"But Arthur, I really don't think—"

"Now!" Arthur screeched, ignoring Flitwick's concerns.

Arthur and Flitwick reached into the icy water and grasped their hands around the large potions master. With all their strength they attempted to bring the man aboard.

The boat, which had miraculously not tipped yet, leaned dangerously close to the water. The two struggling men felt the waves whacking against their faces and coughed on the salt water they had accidentally swallowed. Kreacher was even knocked off his feet and tumbled down to the other side of the boat.

"We can't do this Arthur! He's just too heavy."

"But we can't lose anyone else!"

"Arthur, look at him. He's gone."

Arthur looked down at the overweight professor. He was upside down, not moving and only being kept afloat by his life jacket. If he wasn't dead now, he would probably die soon anyway. The pair of rescuers looked at each other mournfully, then simultaneously let go of the man. At that precise moment the boat rebalanced itself and Slughorn was no longer anywhere to be seen.

Just twenty-four hours ago, everyone had been safe and well.

Now everyone was stuck in a nightmare.

Flitwick scanned the boat for its passengers. Arthur was slumped over in the corner with his face buried in his hands, Kreacher, it seemed, had hit his head and was on the ground knocked out, Fleur had stopped shaking, and was feebly stirring in the corner, and Aunt Muriel still lay motionless on the deck.

"Arthur!" Flitwick shouted over the sound of the wailing wind.

Arthur looked up from his hands but said nothing.

"We need to keep warm and get some sleep. We'd only be wasting our time looking for survivors."

Flitwick didn't mean to sound so blunt, but it was true. There is no way anyone could survive in those waters.

For the next few minutes, the pair worked together to bring Kreacher, Fleur and Muriel over to the same spot. They covered them all tightly with towels, and then lay down beside them. The sail was practically useless now, so they just had to let the waves take course.

Getting to sleep, Flitwick soon discovered, was easier than he expected. Despite the fact the boat was rocking, the wind was loud, and he was constantly getting sprayed by water, exhaustion managed to take over, and he practically passed out. Dreams and nightmares alike plagued Flitwick as he slept, with one dream in particular causing the most concern. He hadn't been as uneasy about it before, but in light of what had happened, all of that changed.

Flitwick was back on the plane.

All the passengers were still alive and having dinner.

He felt a bit ill, so he left for the restroom.

He looked into the mirror and washed his face with some water.

Something wasn't right.

He looked around the tiny room expecting to see something out of the ordinary.

Nothing was different.

Or was it?

He could smell something strange.

Something familiar.

A drink?

No, a potion.

It was unmistakeable.

Disgusting and fowl no matter what it was made with.

Someone had poured the excess liquid down the sink.

But why would anybody on the plane need it in the first place?

Something really wasn't right.

Someone was not being honest.

Someone on this plane was taking polyjuice potion.

"Filius!" Arthur roared, waking him from his slumber.

Flitwick immediately picked himself up from the now flooded deck. The boat was slowly, but surely, sinking and they had no way of stopping it. He scanned the ship for possible leaks, but found not a single crack.

"It's the waves!" Arthur explained, "They're just too big for this boat."

Flitwick now understood exactly what Arthur meant. The waves had grown to frightening levels which made the boat look even smaller. Every wave seemed to either crash into the boat, or over the boat, leaving the floor a wet mess.

"Hold on tight, Filius!" Arthur firmly suggested, gesturing to a monster wave hurtling towards them.

Flitwick, however, had nothing to hang on to, so he just lay as close to the floor as possible.

As the wave approached, instead of crashing the boat into pieces, it lifted the boat up so it was now riding the wave. The vessel sped along at a high speed, perched on top of the large body of water. Flitwick didn't dare look over the edge, but he felt like he was soaring in the air. They were in a very dangerous position, but the boat remained steady.

"Arthur, we might actually stay safe if we—"

CRASH!

The boat shattered as it hit the sand. The main sail completely cracked in half, the hull burst into pieces in every direction, and Flitwick flew through the air only to hit his head as he made it to the ground.

Written for the '52 Weeks of Writing 2013 Competition'.

Prompts used: Journey, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?", sand.

Optional prompts used: Nightmare.