Author: Ikuni Hattori

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Harmony (Harry/Hermione)

Summary: The pirate ship, the Dark Mark, has finally caught up with Hermione and her crew. Who is this Captain Scar, and why is he so familiar to her?

Words: 2117

A/N: Here's another in the universe of "Calm Before the Storm" and "Chartered Passage". This is a Pirate!AU, of course, and probably a Muggle!AU? I don't know, I haven't thought about including conventional magic in yet or not.

Thank you to my Betas: Aya Diefair and RowenaHermioneRavenclaw!

Prompts:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Geek Pride

48. Mythology - Collectable: Pandora's Box

Prompt 2: Dialogue: "Fine, okay, well I deserved that."

[May] Build-A-Book *Comic Book Edition*

The Middle:

2. (trope) identity reveal

[May] The Brand Wars: All Stars

6. Storm - Ororo Munroe

Weather: Thunderstorm

[May] Pop Figures

Fantastic Beasts

3. #15 Albus Dumbledore: (Appearance) Beard

"Confrontation"

Thick planks descended upon the deck of the Crooked Dragon, and pirates dressed in dark cloth and leathers ran over, swords drawn, as both ships rocked in the coming waves of the approaching storm. Half of her crew were pirates, inherited from the ship they all stood on, but the other half were still the remains of the merchant ship she had chartered passage from. Most of them didn't know how to fight, and were easily subdued. Thankfully, no one was killed yet, but the reputation of these pirates preceded them.

The captain of the other ship, who was clearly not Lorde Captain Voldemort, strutted around on deck with a wide grin splitting his face as he gazed about her ship, as if searching for someone. Slight disappointment filled his features as he failed to find his quarry. However, his expression quickly morphed into something more suave as soon as he spotted her. Ignoring the rest of her crew, who were quickly being rounded up by his and brought to the center of the deck, the Captain of the Dark Mark sidled up to her leisurely. Hermione raised a hand to grasp her necklace, her thumb smoothing over the owl pendant to calm herself as she greedily drank in his features, inspecting him. She couldn't help but admit that his time on the seas had been very good to him.

He looked darker than the last time she had seen him all those months ago. He seemed to have spent a lot of time in the sun, and it looked like he had forgone shaving entirely, if the scraggly beard growing on his chin was any indication. His smithing muscles seemed more defined now, as if his tasks on the ship had been physically grueling ones. It made him more attractive than ever in her eyes.

The captain walked around her deck, taking in everything silently, but his eyes never left hers. His crew continued to subdue all aboard, a handful even going below deck to drag everyone out into the open. One individual drew up to her, and made a motion as if to drop her to her knees to make her kneel like the rest of her crew, but she swung around and hissed at him, taking her attention off of the captain. The crewmember jerked back.

"Enough, Ronald," came his oh so familiar voice from over her shoulder, and Hermione had to stop herself from physically responding. She turned and found herself caught in his emerald green gaze. Her breath caught in her throat, and Hermione had to stop herself from stepping closer to him.

"Hello, Sweetie," Harry purred with a saucy grin, one that had once sparked things inside of her. Hermione gazed back at him, her eyes confirming the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and she couldn't help but laugh aloud as all of the pieces fell into place. Of all the rumors she heard of there being a new Captain of the Dark Mark, who knew that this up and coming pirate would be it. And the irony of this situation was that this man standing before her was the one she had been looking for these past few months. It now seemed like her quarry had finally caught up with her.

She looked at him more closely, more curious than ever about how this all came about. But with how easily Harry moved closer to begin flirting with her, Hermione knew she had to harden her heart. If he was flirting with her, who knew who else he had betrayed her for upon his journey to find his father. Her words, to him, were cold, and hopefully this interaction would, in the end, hurt him as much as it hurt her.

"Good afternoon, Captain Scar."

"I am afraid I am at a disadvantage, Madam, for you know my name and I do not know yours," he replied smoothly, a handsome smirk on his face. His expression made her hackles rise, and she could feel her heart break even more.

They had over a decade of history together, and they had vowed themselves to each other before he had left on his quest to search for his long-lost father, and this was how he approached an unknown woman?!

No. Hermione was done pining. She now had a ragtag crew to look after and prioritize, and she would do her damndest to make sure they all made it out alive. This incident just further reinforced their need to get back to Avonwell Port and the treasure that awaited there for her.

The ship surged under her feet as they rode out a wave, and the rain from a thunderstorm that they had been running from finally began to fall.

"You may call me Captain Cat," she replied dryly, matching his gaze. He let out a laugh as he took in her appearance.

"I take it because of your cat mask and all of the hair," he pointed out, his gaze caught by her hair, large and frizzy, before he paused, his brow furrowing.

"And the fact that I am very territorial, and will slash anything in my way. Which, Captain, need I remind you that you are on my ship?" Hermione added with a bite. Her tone distracted him enough that he focused back onto her instead of stewing in his thoughts.

"It is a very nice ship," he commented, slipping easily back into their banter as he tried to step even closer to her. "This ship in particular used to belong to Captain Draco Malfoy. How ever did it fall into your possession?"

"Oh, that is easy, he died. And now I am captain of this ship," Hermione pointed out, bracing herself as another wave hit once more. She watched as the Dark Mark tipped closer to them, its mast dipping dangerously close to their own.

"I have been hunting him down for months, and he has evaded my every attempt to just talk, and you are telling me he just died?" Incredulity filled his voice, and Hermione bristled at the insinuation.

"Well, he tried to take over my ship, and failed, and apparently," she explained as she gestured to her crew, "you keep what you kill, so now this ship and crew are mine. I have had to deal with the death of two captains already, Captain Scar. Do not insult me enough to make it a third." The threat hung in the air heavily between them, and Hermione made sure to hold his emerald gaze as a flash of lightning lit up their surroundings, a booming peal of thunder following closely behind. The rain picked up after that and began to drench everyone. The water quickly deflated her hair, and Hermione found that she didn't care. All she wanted was to get these pirates off of her ship, and to make it safely to land at Avonwell Port, where the next part of their journey laid.

"No offense intended, Captain!" Captain Scar replied easily, however Hermione noticed his hand drift to his pistol at his side. A scowl twisted her features and she raised her cutlass at him.

"And yet here you are, trying to repeat what Captain Malfoy attempted a few days ago. Tell me, is it just a pirate thing to try to ruin everyone's lives, or is it just yours?" There was a bite to her words, and she ignored the pistol that Ronald had raised against her. The rain came down harder and harder, nearly whiting everything out. She heard her crew crying out at the piercing rain striking them. Everyone was nearly at the point of yelling to be heard over the storm, and truthfully, Hermione found it all dumb. All of this was Captain Harry "Scar" Potter's fault.

Captain Scar frowned at her words, and she assumed he must not have heard her threat correctly.

The ship surged violently beneath their feet, and Hermione had to reach out to steady herself against the railing, even as she saw Ronald was knocked off his feet to tumble across the deck. She felt her necklace jump out from where she had hidden it in her blouse, swinging widely, and her hand snapped out to grab it. Hermione knew the instant Captain Scar had seen it.

The necklace itself was a simple chain with a crude metal owl pendant that her love had given her when they had parted at the docks as he left to go find his father on the sea. He had claimed he would always love her, and that this handmade pendant would be his promise to her. It was his good luck charm to her, and he had claimed that if she kept it, he would come back to her.

He had obviously lied. Or maybe he hadn't, since he was currently standing in front of her.

"Where did you get that?!" Captain Scar demanded, jerking forward but drawing short as Hermione lifted her blade back up at him. "The woman who had that necklace! What happened to her?!" His brilliant green eyes met her own, and Hermione knew she had to take pity on him upon seeing the anguish in his eyes. The ship surged again, the waves crashing against their ships and threatening to sweep the Dark Mark away from them. The rain chose, at that moment, to suddenly break, and the noise lessened immensely, besides the thunder still rumbling overhead. Patches of sun began to shine through the clouds, but the sea angrily raged still.

"Captain, the ship!" one of his crew members shouted, but Captain Scar only had eyes for her.

"She died out here on the seas, Captain Scar. Died mostly of heartbreak, but also because a life on the sea was no place for a woman like her," she replied softly, refusing to look away from him.

"Hermione…" Captain Scar whispered, looking tortured, before rage overtook his features. "You…" he raged accusingly at her, his eyes burning with hatred, and what she assumed was heartbreak. He surged towards her, and she nicked his cheek with her blade.

"Not another step, Captain!" she declared before settling into a comfortable stance she always used when she trained in sword fencing with her love. All of the fight suddenly seemed to drain out of Captain Scar as recognition flared in his eyes.

"Fine, okay, well I deserved that," he replied softly, lifting one hand to wipe the blood from his cheek, the other raised into the air in surrender before backing away.

"Captain!" his crewmember called out again, and Captain Scar looked behind him to see their ship beginning to drift away from the waves. One gangplank had already ripped free and fallen to the water below, lost to the rolling tides.

"You better hurry, Captain. The winds will be favoring us soon. You do not want to lose your ship, do you? I hear you have inherited a fine vessel. It would be a terrible thing to lose it now," Hermione calmly replied, staying in her stance, her blade still pointed at him. "Leave me and my crew alone, Captain. There's no need for you to find us again."

"Everyone, back to the ship!" he called out, his eyes never leaving hers, even as he backed away. Hermione relaxed her stance and lowered her cutlass, but never let down her guard until Captain Scar and the entire crew of the Dark Mark had left her ship. Her First Mate immediately took charge, Blaise barking orders to get the ship up and running.

Hermione watched as Captain Scar took position near the helm of his own ship before choosing to just watch her, his own First Mate bellowing orders. They locked eyes once more as the remaining gangplanks were withdrawn and her ship began to pull away from the Dark Mark. He must have suspected something, that was the only possible explanation for his hasty withdrawal.

Well, there is only one way to find out, Hermione thought before she raised her hand to her face and pulled away the mask to let Captain Scar see her face.

The pain on his face was satisfying, but he reacted in no other way. He must have deduced her identity sometime during their conversation, it was the only reason. She shifted on the deck to keep him in her sight, and she barely caught him shouting something to her.

"I will find you again!"

Hermione snorted to herself before turning back to her crew. He could try. They were on a mission to get to Avonwell Port, and nothing would deter them from their quest.

Her heart depended on it.

Pirate/Naval Terminology:

helm is the steering part of a boat

Gangplank- the removable ramp between the pier and ship

Cutlass- a short sword with a slightly curved blade, formerly used by sailors.