Chapter Ten: Message in a Bottle

As Hermione had hoped, the night watch was almost eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the waves lapping against the boat as it treaded through the water and an occasional loud snore coming from below deck. The majority of the crew was asleep. Only a few were on deck right now while one grisly older man kept watch in the crow's nest.

Just because it was silent didn't mean it was enjoyable. The air wasn't very cold or too hot, but it was moist. Hermione's hair was bushier than usual and the only thing keeping her thin white shirt from clinging to her was the ocean breeze that came and went. It could have been worse, she assumed.

The captain and first mate had long since gone to bed so Hermione and Draco considered it safe to talk so long as they kept away from the others keeping watch. They had no worries about the man at the top of the mast; they doubted he could hear much of anything from his position.

"Do you know where we're going?" Hermione asked, keeping close to the railing. The so called dinner she had earlier wasn't settling well in her stomach. Her hand protectively pressed against the boning of the corset.

Malfoy shook his head but then stopped. "I heard one of the blokes saying something about the eastern islands, but I wouldn't put too much stock in that. Apparently there's been a lot of Spanish activity in the area. I'm sure the one thing they want less than the British Navy is a bunch of British pirates." His voice was even as he looked out on the dark expanse of water. They couldn't see far, but that was the point. If they saw anything in the distance, light from a candle or torch on a ship, that's when there would be cause for alarm.

"You know, I've been thinking," Hermione finally said. Malfoy just kept staring out. "You should probably stop calling me Granger." His smirk told her that he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he still didn't say anything. "And I'll have to stop calling you Malfoy. The last thing we need is someone figuring out that we're not – what's that?"

Never one to cut off midsentence, Hermione was distracted by something she saw floating in the water. "What's what Gra- Hermione?" He tried to follow her line of sight but didn't see anything.

"Hand me your wand," she whispered. She checked over her shoulder to see if anyone was around. The closest person she saw was looking at a cannon on the other side of the deck.

"Over my dead body!" Draco whispered back. "You lost yours."

Whatever it was that was floating in the water was drifting to the back of the ship. Hermione noticed that it refracted the moonlight off a smooth edge. "No one is here to take it, just let me see it for five seconds!" He begrudgingly handed it over and watched as Hermione had some difficulty with the movements. "Wingardium Leviosa." Malfoy's wand was too foreign for her to attempt the spell without speaking.

At first she thought she had been off with her aim, but soon the item came floating up. She saw that it was a bottle and used the wand to reel it in like a fish. Her fingers wrapped around the wet glass and she noticed a roll of parchment inside. She handed Malfoy's wand back to him and uncorked the bottle. Her fingers worked to get the sheet out, but her body froze at the sound of boots coming down the deck in their direction.

"What do ye have there?" Anne asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's a bottle with something inside." Hermione admitted in a rushed voice, holding the quickly re-corked item out to the intimidating woman. Again her hand shook a little, but Bonny was far too interested with what she took from Hermione's hand. In one quick motion, she smashed the end of the bottle on the railing of the ship and pulled the parchment from inside before tossing the remainder of the glass overboard.

Anne unfurled the rolled up pages and her eyes swept over the top one. Hermione wanted a look but before she could even ask what it was Anne turned about and marched right back to the captain's quarters where she had come from.

"What do you suppose that was?"

Hermione shot one eyebrow up and looked at Draco before shrugging. It had to be useful or it would have gone overboard as well. "No telling where we'll be going now." She put her hands on the railing and leaned back only to have a sharp pain sear into her left palm.

"Ouch!" She said, squinting at the cut caused by a leftover piece of broken glass. A tiny bubble of blood came up and it began to pool in her palm. "Would you mind?" She asked, holding out her hand to the wizard beside her.

"I don't think I should." Hermione gave him a hard look but Draco only lifted his chin. She followed his line of sight and saw the same man who had been looking at the cannon idly walking near the stairs to the right of the captain's area on the other side of the deck. She narrowed her eyes at him and wondered the same thing as Draco. Had he alerted Bonny that she and Malfoy had found something? Were they being watched?

Just to be on the safe side, Hermione nodded and pulled the glass fragment from her hand without magic. Malfoy held out the handkerchief he had swiped from the shop and she wrapped it around the wound. He tied it tightly for her and then took off toward the bow of the ship. Some distance between the two might throw off any suspicion they had accumulated. Hermione cradled her left hand in her right and looked back up at the strange crew member. She could have sworn that he had turned his head away at the last minute.

A/N: Woo hoo, an extra chapter for you all! You guys have been so great to me and this was probably the chapter that really helped me decide where I wanted the story to go. Hope you all enjoy. I believe I'll be able to upload a few more by this weekend, but somebody *ahem* was given a job in the costuming department of my university theater, so no promises because I don't want to let you down... Thanks again, everyone! And please review, even if it's just to point out to me something you found funny (I always appreciate knowing that I got the humor right).