A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you're ready for another Pirate!AU! Set in the same universe as "Calm Before the Storm," "Chartered Passage," and "Confrontation", this one can technically be a standalone if you'd like. I think, once I've exhausted all of the prewritten prompts that I have planned for this, I might put them in chronological order all in one story. Idk, what are your guys' thoughts?

This one seemed to write itself, and before I knew it, there were almost 2k words on the page before I even took a second look at it. Tbh, Harry's backstory was all completely made up before writing this fic.

But Ikuni! Everything is made up and the points don't matter!

Correct! But when I say the backstory was completely made up when I wrote this, I mean that I have a lot of stuff storyboarded and planned out, and nowhere in my 18 page document was the backstory that I wrote. In fact, one MORE one-shot was drafted because of parts of Harry's backstory that wasn't previously written (and yes, it does pertain to the captain and crew of the ship Marauder.)

Anyway, this note is getting long, so I'll shut up now.

This is unbetaed, so any mistakes are mine. Let me know if something slips past my detection system. This is going up wet...very wet.

Enjoy!

Prompts used:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

[May Bi-Monthly] Founder Says

Helga Says: Something Fluffy

7. "Stay right here with me, and we'll forget the rest of the world together."

Geek Pride

22. Final Fantasy - Collectable: Ancient Relic

Prompt 2: Dialogue: "I'll be here. I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise."

"Charmed"

She knew something was wrong as soon as she woke up today. There was a pervasive feeling of wrongness in the air, and Hermione knew that something bad was going to happen today.

Their peaceful town of Port Charlotte was a simple town, but one slowly gaining importance. King Charles II himself had sent her father a letter the other day, one which her father had refused to show her. Apparently the king had shared some news with her father, and it made him giddy. He refused to outright tell her what the big news was, even as she pulled out her best pouty look and flattering persona as she usually did when she wanted something, but he never budged in his silence on the matter. It must have been something dire indeed.

However, Hermione's father did hint at some visitors joining them soon, and as soon as those words were out of his mouth, Mrs. Dursley, the head maid of the household and the aunt of Hermione's childhood friend, was off to spread the news to the household, to get everything prepared for what the woman assumed was the king's arrival. Hermione knew how to read through the lines, especially when he brought up her coming 18th birthday, and how she should soon be thinking about marriage. She knew whatever marriage she was forced to go into, for the good standing of her name and to raise her prospects in life, would be a loveless one, for her heart already belonged to another.

Harry Potter, the nephew of the best blacksmith in the town, had been friends with her since they were very young and Mrs. Dursley had to bring both him and her own son into work with her when her husband had fallen with a cold. The children had played together for a week, and she had found Dudley to be an unpleasant boy with a strong personality-he was not too bad, for who could blame a spoiled child for always wanting more when it was all he had known?

But Harry and Hermione just clicked as soon as they met each other, and even from a young age, she was taken with him.

Even after Mr. Dursley recovered and Dudley went back home to the house attached to their smithy, Harry often asked to come to work with his aunt, all so he and Hermione could continue to play together. Hermione loved it, and oftentimes tried to convince her father to include the boy in her upcoming lessons with her governess.

Her father had resolutely put his foot down and told her no, and it was an upset Hermione who had to tell her best friend that they couldn't play together now that she had lessons with her governess beginning soon.

At the time, he had comforted her, and replied that he would soon be apprenticing with his uncle at his smithy, so he would have less time soon as well. However, despite their changing schedules, the two never failed to find time for each other.

Hermione had fallen for his kindness, and his large heart, even in the face of his demanding cousin, aunt and uncle, and he never let adversity keep him down. Even now, as they reached the 15th year that they've known each other, they still made sure to find time to spend with each other.

Harry's circumstances had been strange. He had been left on his aunt and uncle's doorstep when he was a year and a half old, and while they had taken him in begrudgingly, they loved him like their own. Not as loved as his cousin Dudley, but they never neglected him or left him on his own.

Harry's mother was Mrs. Dursley's sister, who had lived over in England with her husband, who had been a Captain in the British Royal Navy. From what Hermione had been able to gleam from the gossiping maids in the house, was that the two sisters had been estranged and lost touch when Mrs. Dursley and her husband had joined Hermione's father in their little town of Port Charlotte. Mrs. Dursley knew that she had a nephew, but had never seen him before. All speculation of Harry perhaps not being her sister's son died, however, when the woman had seen her sister's eyes in the boy.

No one knew what had happened to Harry's father. Harry's mother simply vanished one day, leaving her son alone, and so, it is speculated, that friends of Harry's parents had brought him here to be with his aunt, who was his last remaining family. And while Hermione knew that Harry was relatively content with his relatives, he had always wondered 'what if,' had he grown up with his parents. Hermione never had to wonder. She just knew he would be just as kind, and just as amazing as he was now.

And so she knew, if she couldn't marry Harry, she would never be able to give her heart to her future husband. Oh, her father tried to parade men in front of her, as if to give her the pick of the lot, but the merchants, military men, and nobles never caught her fancy. Her eyes had always sought another, and so her father had given up.

However, as time passed, Governor Granger renewed his efforts, and suddenly Hermione had four new dresses, for the upcoming occasion from the letter that he refused to tell her about. It was one of these new frocks that she was now being dressed in, her maids twittering around her in wonder at the fineness of the silks and its pretty blue color.

"One almost seems to think you are trying to bribe me," Hermione had teased her father when he had stopped by to see her in the dress, just as they were finishing tying the last laces. Thankfully, this current dress did not have a corset in it, like some of the fashion trends across the sea were demanding. This dress, however, fit her like a glove, and Hermione wondered just how long their milliner had spent with the seamstress to get her measurements correct.

Hermione escaped the house as soon as she could, eager to head down to the smithy to show off her new dress to Harry. He was due for a break soon, and could be tempted to take lunch outside of the shop, since both Mr. Dursley and Dudley would still be working inside. However, when she arrived at the Dursley smithing shop, Harry wasn't there. Dudley frowned at her as she asked about his cousin, before shaking his head.

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Dudley's words were said kindly, but Hermione knew the dreaded feeling she had woken up with this morning had been right. "He should be down at the docks. He...should still be here."

At her words, Hermione turned and sprinted down to the docks, dodging the market stall owners in the square, and pushing past the guards standing at attention in all of the major points in the port. She didn't dare think of decorum now, not when haste was of the essence.

Finding the docks, and finding only one ship in dock, Hermione knew that this was her quarry. She sped past the dockhands, and easily found the messy black hair that not even the persistent Mrs. Dursley's hot comb could tame.

"Harry!" she cried out as she launched herself at him, and he barely had time to turn around to catch her in his arms. "Harry, what's going on? I went to your uncle's to pull you out for a break, and they told me you were here!" Harry's smile directed at her was heartbroken, and he hugged her to him for a moment before he pulled back and held her at arm's length.

"Miss Granger-" he started, but she interrupted.

"It's Hermione! How many times do I have to tell you?" she asked teasingly, easily falling back into their routine. Her small smile dropped, however, when he didn't smile back at her. "What's wrong? Harry, what happened?"

He faltered for a moment in the face of her concern, before plastering a smile on his face. "Hermione." Her name was said breathlessly, and the feeling in Hermione's gut deepend. "I overheard some of the local privateers mention a man, out near the coast of Morocco, across the sea. Hermione, I think I found my father." The enthusiasm on his face was so hopeful, that Hermione couldn't help but feel her heart break.

"Harry, you heard your aunt and uncle," she whispered to him, drawing closer, decorum bedamned. "Your father is dead!"

"No, they only think my father is dead. That's why I think it could be him out there. From what my aunt has described of him, the man I heard about fits his description perfectly. I have to try," Harry tried to explain.

"Harry, stay. Please stay! Stay right here with me, and we'll forget the rest of the world together, okay?" she begged, her eyes wide with panic, her arms wrapping around him to try to physically keep him there. Harry held her tightly, burying his face into her curls that were tamed into a particularly elaborate updo.

"There is a chance, Hermione," he replied regrettably, and Hermione held him tighter, unwilling to let him go. "There is a chance and I am going to take it. I might find nothing, but I might also find everything!"

Hermione felt her heart break at his words, but she couldn't help but plaster a watery smile onto her face as she pulled back to look at him. "Is there anything I can do to get you to stay?" she asked quietly, and Harry's expression softened. He lifted her chin with his finger, and gave her a warm smile.

"There is something you can do to get me to come back." Harry reached up and grabbed the pendant around his neck and pulled, unclasping the necklace that laid around his neck that he had ever since before he came to his aunt and uncle's. "Keep this safe for me, will you?" Hermione gasped upon seeing it as she pressed it into her hands.

"This is your good luck charm though! You never part with it!" Hermione pointed out, and Harry smiled warmly at her.

"That just means that you have to hold onto it for me until I come back," he explained, before reaching up and tying the necklace around her neck. "This means I will come back for it, and for you," Harry promised. A call went out from the ship, and Harry turned to look before turning back to Hermione. "I have to go. Keep this safe for me when I return, yeah?"

Hermione's smile in return was watery, and she knew she would start sobbing soon from the heartbreak sitting in her chest, but she knew she had to be strong for him. "I will be here. I will be waiting for you. If you come back here, you will find me. I promise," she vowed, and the affection in his gaze made her breathless.

"That's my girl," he whispered before he took a step back, took her hand, and then pressed a kiss to the back of it. Hermione had to physically stop herself from sobbing aloud as Harry bent down to retrieve his bag. He then headed to the ship, but turned as he made nearly to the loading ramp.

With tears in her eyes, Hermione watched as Harry paused, turned, and gave her one final wave goodbye before hefting his bag higher on his shoulder, turning, and walking onto the boat that would take him away from her forever.

Pirate/Naval Terminology:

None today!