"It's time."
Voldemort stood inside the cabin door, Harry already hurtling toward him from where he'd been pacing by the dark windows, a force of nature as he barrelled straight into his arms, reaching around to shove the door closed.
"No. Not like this. You've left me in here all bloody day, and we must speak. I don't want to go. I can't live on Godric's Hollow and marry Ginny Weasley. I can't do that man's bidding… I won't."
He shook his head, desperation shining in wild emerald eyes,
"But it's more than that."
He leaned in closer, fingers digging into Voldemort's flesh,
"I want to be with you. I must be with you."
Voldemort's chest constricted painfully, allowing the dream of a future bright with Harry's smile to take hold for a moment, allowing the idea of peace and joy to flicker through him before he snuffed it out,
"No. This isn't…"
"What? Is this the part where you hurl more cruel taunts you don't mean? I don't care how mad it is, I want to be with you. And I know you want to be with me."
With effort, he pried Harry's fingers loose and stepped back, keeping him at a distance with hands firm on his shoulders,
"And you'll what? Join me in a life of piracy? You don't want that."
"No, I don't."
But before Voldemort could say that settled it, Harry surged forward, wrapping his arms around his waist, peering up so earnestly that he couldn't push him away. Harry said,
"You don't want to be a pirate either. You never did."
He sucked in a breath,
"But I would do it if it meant being at your side. I want to stir in your arms at dawn and yield to you at night. I want the freedom to spend our days as we wish, without judgment. In as much peace as we can muster, wherever that may be."
His heart thumped. It was too good to be possible,
"You don't mean that. Not really."
"You truly think I'm lying? Wrapping you around my finger, like Fletcher said? After all this?"
He squeezed his arms around his waist, gaze imploring,
"I admit that when I first lay with you, it crossed my mind. How could it not? You'd threatened to kill me. My sister. I thought it might be more difficult for you if we grew closer. But I always wanted you. That was always true. It always will be."
Through the door, Snape shouted,
"Captain! We're ready for the exchange! Bring the prisoner to the deck!"
He burst in and stumbled to a stop, blinking at them. He huffed, exasperation clear,
"Enough of this!"
Enough.
But Harry held fast, gaze steady…challenging,
"Will you still gut me like a fish if he doesn't pay?"
Part of him wanted to retreat and roar a false threat like a pirate captain should, to not give a damn about this young man from another world, whom he never should have touched. Whom he never should have allowed to touch him. Harry whispered,
"I know you won't… I've known it for weeks. This is real between us. You can get the ransom from my mentor, and we can meet somewhere in a few weeks' time. We can be together. You can leave this life."
"Captain!"
Snape shouted as he took hold of Harry and jerked him out of his arms as a red flare of rage boiled through him and he shouted,
"Let go of him!"
Snape's eyes widened, and he stumbled back, letting go of Harry and lifting his palms,
"I'm trying to stop you from being swept up in this nonsense. As sincere as young Mr. Potter might be in this moment, it is a fantasy. The gentry don't run away with pirates."
Harry sputtered,
"You don't know a thing about me! You don't know…"
"What I know is that we need the ransom!"
Snape glared at Harry, then took a step towards him, beseeching,
"I have supported you in this as far as I can. I helped quell that mutiny, but my first duty must be to the men. They have been promised for a month. They are owed. It is time. Enough of this balderdash."
When he looked to Harry, a vision of him covered in blood took hold, flooding his gut with acid. He would only drag him into the abyss. He had to do everything he could to keep Harry safe.
Harry shook his head,
"Don't listen to him!"
Gathering his strength with a deep inhalation, he turned and took his coat off the hook on the hull wall, shrugging the hot leather over his shoulders. He tied the red sash around his waist, then strapped on his belt and weapons, the heat of Harry's angry gaze a horrible itch on his skin.
He opened the desk drawer and plucked out his rings, pushing them over his knuckles. Up on the main deck, a voice called,
"Launch approaching!"
He faced Harry, who watched him with jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. He asked,
"Don't you want to dress properly? Your waistcoat? Shoes and stockings?"
He gritted out,
"No. Let's get on with it."
He turned, then whirled back,
"You're many things, but I never imagined coward was one of them."
"All right, up you go, brat!"
Snape hauled him out of the cabin, and he followed, his boots thudding on the deck, blood rushing in his ears. He must withstand this. Harry would thank him once he was back on solid ground, warm and coddled, safe and sound.
He narrowed his gaze on Godric's Hollow beyond the harbour, where ships of varying sizes bobbed, none big enough to carry many guns. In the black night, firelight dotted the hillside, fanning out, but not nearly as much as he'd expected. Under the sun it would be easier to judge, but the colony did appear quite lacking.
From the approaching launch, a man called,
"Captain Voldemort?"
He stood at the bow,
"Aye."
"We must see Harry Potter, alive and unharmed."
He reached back for Harry's arm, but Harry jerked free and strode to stand beside him,
"I'm here. Unharmed."
Squinting into the wooden boat, which was rowed by two men, the speaker perched in the bow, he asked,
"Where the hell is the governor? My demand was that he meet us. Alone."
"Governor Dumbledore is taken ill with worry. He has been abed for days."
The messenger's voice cracked,
"I am here as his representative."
He snorted,
"Yes, I'm sure he's quite ill. Get up here."
While he'd looked forward to seeing the whoreson again… to lording his revenge, all that truly mattered was the sack this sweating, quivering emissary held, and whether it contained the ransom. That was all that could matter.
Our time is up. This was always where we would end. He deserves far better than me. He'll thank me for this before long.
Yet Harry's plea echoed in this mind. Was it possible to have the money and Harry? Right that minute, could he have both?
It would be a battle, but it would likely be a battle regardless, even though they could spy no soldiers in wait and they were out of range of any cannons on land. Excited apprehension vibrated through him.
They could try.
The messenger wore a ridiculously puffy wig and was dressed in fine silks that were too big for his frame. He climbed up the rope ladder they unfurled, trembling as he threw a leg over the rail and boarded on the port side. He held out the sack, and Snape took it, opening it and snapping his fingers for a lantern.
He couldn't breathe. He reached for Harry, taking his shoulder. Harry panted softly, his eyes imploring in the spray of lantern light. He could keep him safe, couldn't he? In a life away from the sea's turmoil, he could. He would!
They had the money… if he kept Harry too, or if they ran, or arranged to meet…
A pistol exploded in the night, and he whipped his head around, reaching for his cutlass, then gritting his teeth at the followed curse and one of the men shouting,
"'T'was only a misfire!"
As he opened his mouth to order calm, the emissary lunged toward him with wild, spooked eyes, and Harry was suddenly in front of him, knocking him back.