Jack stood at the wheel, the young girl captured his mind it seemed. No matter how hard he tried to shake the feelings away they always returned, to the point where he thought he may be going crazy. Barbossa could tell, too. He could read Jack's emotions for the girl, and could only sense trouble.
"Jack, I swear, the lass is some sort of trouble. And it's bad luck to have a woman aboard a ship, ye know. I say we drop 'er off at the next port, give'r some money to last and forget this all even happened." Barbossa strongly suggested in his gruff and unpleasant tone.
Jack rolled his eyes, it wasn't the first time his first mate had brought this up. Jack turned to walk away, waving his hand dismissively, "Now if anyone else were talking to me like that I'd be convinced they'd be selling something. But that's beside the point. Hector, nothing bad is going to come of this, she's just a girl."
"Not to you. And since when did Jack Sparrow ever care about anyone other than hisself?" Jack winced at his words. Giving up, Barbossa walked away, pulling out his canteen and mumbling a few choice words to himself.
"Calm yer heels, I've told you time and time again, you're jumping to conclusions that will end us in more trouble than we wouldn't be without even having worried accomplished, mate. So it would be deemed superfluous even if it were to be a situation cautioned over. Savvy?" Jack always had a clever way of speaking that intrigued yet confused most. He dismissed Barbossa's comments from his mind, returning to his usual joyous self.
Jack flounced about the deck, coat-tails flapping in the breeze as he ordered crewmen about. He then had to double-take upon noticing brown curls in his peripheral vision, Hermione. She was walking up the steps and onto the upper deck, now in conversation with Barbossa.
Jack turned away, unsure wether it was too soon to talk to her or not. He covered his mouth with his hand, exhaling a few times, checking his breath. Not too bad, he shrugged.
"Cap'n?" A rather annoying voice broke out beside him. Jack looked in the crew member's direction, wincing upon noticing it was Catastrophe Shane. The most useless and clumsiest pirate in all the seven seas.
"What ya *hiccup* gawking at, Cap'n?" The man asked, fixing his hat that was entirely too big for his head, swaying a little.
"Gawking?" Jack asked, "I'm not gawking at anything. Nope, no one's gawking here." He must've been staring at Hermione without realizing it.
"Wha's 'er name, she's mighty purty." Shane asked, leaning dreamily on the mop in his hands, both of them now watching Hermione admiringly.
"Her- her name is none of your concern, Shane. Now get back to swabbin' you ungrateful tortoise." Jack said. She's all mine, he thought. No one else can have her.
Snapping out of it, he perked up the courage to approach this entrancing girl. She was sitting on the railing at the upper deck, over looking the sea and the occasional island they would pass by.
"Morning, darlin'." He grinned, standing beside her. Her brown curly hair was flowing perfectly in the wind, to the point where he was tempted to just reach out and touch it. But he refrained.
"Morning..." She echoed, smiling a small smile.
"How bout that little fiasco earlier, eh? What was that about?" He asked, leaning on the rail beside her.
He noticed her smile fade quickly. "Don't worry about that. It happens all the time." She said looking sadly out to sea, trying to force the bad memories away.
"Why?" He asked, tilting his head curiously.
"Um, it's no big deal." She tried to switch the subject. "Say, you're fairly young to be a captain. Plenty of the pirates here are far older, if you don't mind me saying so." She observed. He only seemed maybe, twenty seven. And Hermione, she was going to turn twenty one in September.
"Well, considering I am a Pirate Lord, madam, I get a lot of respect." He said, straitening his back to look superior.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his silly behavior. "And how does one, as you say, become a Pirate Lord?"
"Well," He began, smiling. He loved talking about himself. "The title runs in the family. For example, my grandmama was a pirate lord along with my pa."
"Really?" She was surprised it was that easy. She assumed one must pass at least some sort of initiation. "And what's the pirate life like? Plenty of adventures, I assume?"
"Guts and glory, tha's all it is. But if there's one thing I love about being a pirate, it's freedom." He smiled, recalling his childhood adventures. "Tell me, doll, do you believe in magic?"
"I do." She said, trying to hide a smile and failing at it.
"Really?" He mused, "For what circumstances? Or- or experiences?"
She paused, twisting her lips in thought. First of all, she couldn't back out of the conversation, and she needed to severely filter her thoughts. If she said the wrong things, she could end up burned at the stake. "Well, my neighbor was rumored to be a witch. She turned my cousin into a newt." She lied, hoping he'd believe her tall-tale.
He cringed in response, imagining life as a newt. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"You know," She bit her lip to conceal a smile, kicking her feet on the edge of the ship, "I feel like I can tell you anything..."
He smiled luminously. Those were points, right? "Glad to hear it, lovie."
Aboard the Pearl, the sun was setting, and rumor buzzed about the ship that they were nearing a merchant vessel. To do what pirates did. Right now, Barbossa was at the wheel and Jack in his cabin, plotting charts. As for Hermione, she remained on the bottom stair on the deck, watching the crew hop about with immense fascination.
She was trying to memorize their names. First, there was Billy Turner, AKA Bootstrap Bill. She had spoke to him earlier, seeing as he didn't seem to be like a pirate at all, which made her curious. And her suspicion was correct, in fact. He wasn't a pirate at all, just a man who wanted to return to his wife and child back in North Carolina.
Then, there was Pintel and Reghetti. Two rather odd sailors, she observed. Pintel was decently short, but chubby. His hair was long, but severely thinning. His best friend, Reghetti, was just the opposite. He was tall and thin, with a wooden replacement for his left eye.
There was also Catastrophe Shane, who was tied to the mast half the time so that he would just stay out of the way. Rumor had it, he was so drunk, half of his brain consisted of rum. He was rather small, could never walk strait, and wore clothes about four sizes too large. He was constantly tripping on other crewmen, bottles, ropes, or anything else that existed.
There was a man, Gunner, who was pretty normal for the most part. He was older with ratty white hair, a twisted nose, and many wrinkles, but don't let that deceive you. From what Hermione noticed, he was one of the most hardworking of the crew. He could lift the anchor all on his own. His nephew, Bushwhacker, wasn't much different either. Bushwhacker was rather attractive, really. About Hermione's age, he had shoulder-length blonde hair that was tied back and wore a red plaid farm shirt. He also had a very thick southern accent mixed with English, which often caught her off guard.
The first mate, Barbossa, was what someone in the future would call a 'ginger'. He wore a regal, long grey coat, along with a large black, feathered hat. Hermione didn't receive a very pleasant vibe from him either, but as long as Jack trusted him, who was she to question?
Speaking of Jack, she found him the most intriguing. She could get lost in his dark brown, coal-lined eyes. She shook her head, trying to remove those thoughts. But still, she had a hunch he felt the same about her, as well. He was too nice to be a fearsome pirate. Or at least, around her he was nice. Earlier when they were talking, she want to spill every emotion to him. She wanted to tell him everything. Her magic, the war, Harry and Ron, her coming there from the future, everything. She had such a sudden spur of trust to him, it was almost scary. Was this a crush? She couldn't tell. She hadn't felt this much emotion for a single person ever before. Why him? Of all people!
"British vessel due North East of the horizon! Drop sail and haul anchor ye blabbering bildgerats!" Barbossa howled from the wheel.
Soon enough, Jack burst from his cabin, flinging the doors open with such excitement they bounced off the walls and shut themselves. He approached Hermione, walking quickly up the steps behind her. She stood, following him.
"What's happening?" She asked Barbossa, almost frightened.
"Piratin'!" He said, teeth showing in a feral grin.
"All to the cannons!" Jack shouted, causing a flock of crewmen to crowd down the steps to the cannons.
Barbossa left the wheel, allowing Jack to take over, but Jack stopped him short. "One moment, Hector."
He turned to Hermione, hurriedly grabbing her hand and ushering her down the steps. She followed without hesitation. "Where are we going?" She asked as he lead her down to his cabin.
"Listen, darling, I need you to stay put. Can you do that for me?" Jack asked, smiling a little.
Hermione's eyes looked upward upon a sudden thud on the deck up above before meeting his eyes again. "I guess so, yeah." She agreed, although unsure.
"Thank you, sweetheart." He smiled, turning and leaving the cabin.
All I have to do is stay down here... That can't be too hard, can it? She thought to herself, wincing upon hearing cannon shots, feeling the rumble of the floorboards and the shaking of the chandelier. She ran to the left side of the room, where she remembered the other ship to be, and she pressed her ear up against the side to listen.
Her brows furrowed upon hearing a strange whistle, that grew louder with each millisecond. Without further warning, the wall not seven feet away exploded, shards of glass and splinters of wood taking flight. She screamed and fell to her knees. A cloud of smoke filled the room from the cannon and it's remnants of debris.
She slowly stepped toward the hole in the wall, examining the damage. The gap was frayed along the edges, and about as tall as her. She looked out the hole, until a moving figure caught her eye. Was that? A man?
She backed away quickly when a man flung into the room on a rope, landing on the floor in front of her. A two more men piled into the room, looking at her with confused faces before pulling out their swords.
She screamed, scurrying backwards onto the bed, unable to think of better plan. The three men came closer at a tauntingly slow pace, swords raised. She grabbed the lit oil lamp from off the side table, not thinking of the consequences, throwing it at them. It hit one of the men, the oil drenching his shirt and the fire spreading across the rest of him. He backed away, falling out of the hole in the wall and into the dark waters of the night.
The other two turned their gazes back to Hermione, revenge of their fallen in their minds. She smiled weakly, hoping they'd be forgiving. She looked down, searching for a weapon of the sort. But all there was were little objects on the nightstand.
She backed up against the headboard, throwing anything and everything she could, grabbing a brush and hurling it at someone's head. She then weakly threw the pillow beside her, but it wasn't any more affective than one could imagine. Then it donned on her, a remembrance, more so. She flicked her wrist, and the man to the right flew back with such a force, he made a dent in the wall with his now unconscious self. She then turned to the other, smiling smugly as the man stood still in shock. She was about to cast a Confundus spell, when a gunshot echoed through the cabin, and the man fell to the ground, clutching his knee. Turing her gaze left, there stood Jack in the doorway, pistol aimed toward the man. Jack's arm lowered, stuffing the pistol into his belt and running over to Hermione.
"Are you okay, doll? Are you hurt?" He asked, examining her arm frantically. He looked around the room, seeing a gaping hole in the wall, a broken lantern along with two bodies on the floor.
"I'm alright." She said after a moment, regaining her Griffindor courage.
"That's it, luv. How bout you stick with me?" He offered, figuring she was safer that way. He stood, holding her hand as she climbed off the bed.
"Just in case." He said, grabbing a pistol from one of the drawers nearby and handing it to her. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her close to him, just in case something were to go wrong.
As soon as they stepped onto the deck, a sailor swiped his sword towards Jack, who was well prepared for the attack and blocked it. Jack let go of Hermione, pushing her behind him and out of harms way. Jack and the man continued to parry back and forth, until Barbossa ran the man through with his sword so that Jack could move onto the next one.
"Cap'n!" Pintel began, being continued by Reghetti. "The other ship is turning around! We've won!"
"Ah, that's more like it!" Jack cheered, still otherwise occupied by another sailor.
The remainder of the opponents jumped ship, swimming back to their own while the pirates raised their weapons in triumph. She smiled to him, feeling relieved. He, in turn, smiled back even more luminously.
Just at that moment, Jack was tempted to lean forward and kiss her. But he held himself back, afraid of what her reaction would be.
"Tortuga!" A short bald man yelled in the midst, causing Jack's ears to perk up.
Hermione stood back a moment, feeling overwhelmed by the surrounding pirates as they began to chant the word Tortuga repeatedly.
"Alright, gents, alright! Marty, I like your thinking." Jack spoke up, causing the pirate's to become quiet while their captain spoke. "Tortuga it is!"
"What's Tortuga?" Hermione asked Billy, who was probably the only pirate who wasn't happy to go to this mysterious place.
"It's a pirate port, along the North Haitian coast." He said mournfully.
"And why are you sad?" Hermione asked, sensing he wasn't happy. Then again, it wasn't very difficult to notice.
"A few months ago, Jack promised to take me back to my family, and Tortuga is where I started out." He shrugged, looking down at his feet. "My son, William, will be turning three soon. And now, all of this was for nothing."
"Gosh, I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do?" Hermione asked, always having felt sympathy for others.
"No, thank you. If Jack doesn't take me there, I guess when we make port I'll try another way." He said.
"And why won't he take you?" Hermione asked, tilting her head in question.
"He keeps getting sidetracked, you know? Distracted by other things." Billy sighed, "Well, I'm going below deck, gather my things for when we make port."
