I'd like to thank Balthazar23, Antar23, werewolfXZ, damadape, TheNarratingMan, WraithNX01, Vahktang, flixus, Lynix, TripsToTheRescue, fredfred, InquisitorCOC for betareading.

Chapter 26: The Prison Break Part 1

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 17th, 1996

Sirius Black scoffed as he looked at the small manor in front of him. Unlike others, Khalil Haddad obviously lacked any style. The building was gaudy, the decorative ornament overdone, and the whole house felt cramped - as if one had forced a far larger palace into a space too small for it. "We should just break in," he said. "Grab the man and question him."

Peter, as expected, sighed. "The palace's protections are too strong, Sirius."

"We've got two Curse-Breakers and you," Sirius retorted. "And it's not a palace." Palaces were bigger.

"The wards are too strong to bypass, much less take down, quickly enough to avoid notice," Bill cut in.

"Oui," Fleur, of course, chimed in. "While I would love taking down this fils de putain, we can't do it."

"Well, not without more preparations," Bill added.

"Oh?" Sirius perked up. "Do you need gold?"

"Time, mostly," Bill said.

"It's not practicable," Peter pointed out. "Let's talk to the man and see if we can get what we want without starting a war."

"It wouldn't be a war." Sirius scoffed. "The Bey would disavow the man in a heartbeat if it meant avoiding a visit from Dumbledore."

Peter, the spoilsport, shook his head. "The Bey can't afford to show too much weakness. And if we attacked Haddad unprovoked, then he can't let that go. And Dumbledore can't be seen to bail out raiders just because they're British. And French," he added with a nod towards Fleur. "That would weaken his stance against raids in general."

"Pirate raids and punitive raids aren't the same!" Fleur protested.

Sirius nodded in agreement.

"We don't even know if Haddad is involved in anything that would justify a punitive raid - at least in the eyes of the ICW," Peter retorted.

"He's dealing with slavery and kidnappers," Fleur pointed out. "And he buys slaves for the Ottomans."

"Which is legal here, in the Ottoman Empire," Peter told her.

Sirius scoffed. "Kidnapping isn't legal, though."

"That's harder to prove. Which is why the pirates are so nervous. And why we need to be a little more careful, so the pirates won't panic and make Harry and Miss Granger disappear."

Sirius sighed. Peter, as usual when it concerned such shady things, had made a compelling argument. "We can still hope that Haddad will attack us."

Fleur nodded emphatically.

"Let's go then! It's already late!" Sirius exclaimed.

"It's not really late - not for Algiers. This is when much of the business is being done," Bill said. "It's cooler in the evening."

Sirius scoffed. "That's what cooling charms are for."

"Those are a relatively new invention - people here lived for centuries without them," Bill replied.

"As my dear unlamented mother proved, blindly following tradition is a recipe for disaster." Sirius shook his head. "Anyway, let's go!" Bill and Fleur's friend had arranged a meeting for them, after all.

He strode off towards the door. He was a Black, and that meant something.

Behind him, Peter sighed. He was such a worrywart. It came with being a spy - all that hiding and sneaking around wasn't good for you. Sometimes, all you needed was a quick wand and a quicker curse.

Haddad's manor was as gaudily decorated inside as its outside led one to expect. It made the guards - and there were plenty of those; Sirius Black had counted four in the entrance hall and two more that escorted them to Haddad's salon - stand out. Not the best strategy, unless it was just a feint, and the wizard had more subtle defences. That was how the Blacks used to do it - as mother had been fond to say, it was the hidden curse that got you.

Or they were fresh hires and hadn't had time to adapt.

"Good evening."

And their 'gracious host' was very nervous. It could be an act, but… Sirius didn't think so. What would the man gain by acting as if he were nervous? Was he trying to lure them into attacking him? That would be a little too obvious - no one would fall for such an obvious trap.

"Good evening, Mr Haddad. Thank you for your invitation." Sirius bowed - in the British manner. He was a Black, after all.

"I could hardly refuse a request from such illustrious people, could I?" Haddad laughed, but it sounded fake. Could he really have been shaken so much by the rumours of Dumbledore planning a visit? He was involved in the slave trade, yes, but was there more behind this?

Sirius smiled and leaned forward a little, eyeing the four visible guards - and looking for additional traps and guards. Perhaps the servants or slaves bringing refreshments were more than they appeared to be?

While Bill talked about the weather, because you couldn't just come to the point in Magical Algiers even in the midst of a crisis, Sirius studied them. They didn't look like assassins just waiting to curse him and his friends - but then, assassins rarely did. But they also didn't look like slaves kept in line with threats, punishment or spells. On the other hand, Haddad wouldn't risk being embarrassed by a slave. Certainly not when he had visitors from Britain and France in the middle of a rather delicate diplomatic situation.

Slaves or assassins? Or both, like the Janissaries? Haddad might not be the official representative of the Sultan, but he certainly had quite some influence at court, and at least the unofficial protection of the Sublime Porte, the government of the Empire, thanks to his services in procuring slaves. It would stand to reason that he might be protected by slaves raised from childhood to serve as guards.

So, if negotiations failed, who should Sirius take out first? The visible guards or the slaves? He couldn't just kill the slaves, of course. Even if they might be assassins. Killing slaves would be… They were here to save people, not to kill slaves who didn't know better.

Stunners for the slaves before they could react, then the guards. Who might be slaves as well, of course, but you had to draw the line somewhere, and Sirius preferred to draw it where people wielded wands against him in service of a slaver without being under a spell.

Besides, Fleur would burn the guards at the first chance, and Bill would help her. Peter would secure Haddad.

"...and yes, the tea is excellent, Mr Haddad," Bill said, lifting his cup with a smile that almost looked sincere.

"I had it imported directly from the Burgher Kingdom," Haddad replied. He didn't look as nervous as he had been at the start. Perhaps there was something to this idle chatting.

"Part of Ceylon," Peter whispered as if Sirius hadn't known that - he might not care for his family's views on muggleborns, but mother had taught him all about tea. Still, he inclined his head as if he were impressed.

Fleur, of course, sniffed, showing she wasn't impressed - then again, she was French and preferred coffee, so her taste in tea wasn't exactly relevant.

Haddad might have noticed her mood, though, since he cleared his throat. "But enough of my meagre efforts as a host. You come to me in the middle of a delicate situation. There might be a lot of misunderstandings. Possible misunderstandings."

Sirius grinned. "You mean about Dumbledore's favourite students - my godson amongst them - having been kidnapped by pirates based in your country?"

Haddad's face froze in a fake smile. "That is one of the misunderstandings I mentioned."

"We know that the Portkey that took them led to the hideout of a gang of pirates from the Barbary Coast," Sirius told him.

"That, ah, might have been the case when the Portkey was created, perhaps."

"'Perhaps'?" Sirius didn't think the man was merely speculating.

"The Ottoman Empire, as you certainly know, doesn't condone piracy. Hence, those unscrupulous criminals have left our country and taken up hiding in other countries while they ply their despicable trade."

"Such as kidnapping children whom you then buy for your friends in Constantinople," Sirius said.

"I would never be party to enslaving kidnapping victims. That would break the Law of the Sultan." Haddad's claim wouldn't have fooled a muggle under a Confundus Charm.

Sirius showed his teeth. "Dumbledore would really like to have all his students at Hogwarts when school starts again."

The Ottoman wizard twitched. "I see. And when would that be?"

"September First."

"Ah." Haddad nodded. "Quite the concern. Although I can assure you that I haven't heard of any, ah, attempts to pass on British students as, ah, natives."

Sirius sighed. "Let's stop playing games. Which band of pirates has my godson and his friend?" He ignored Peter's whispered 'Sirius!' and Bill's sudden, hissing breath. "You know something."

"I can assure you that I don't know anything about this." Haddad shook his head, but he was sweating now. And the guards had tensed. As had the two slaves ready to refill their cups, but then, that was to be expected whether they were assassins or not.

"Do you really want to risk Dumbledore taking charge of this himself? You would make a great scapegoat for your 'friends' at home. A slaver who acted without the Sultan's knowledge, broke the law…" Sirius shrugged. "Whatever favours you are owed wouldn't be enough to risk another visit of the Vanquisher of Grindelwald, would it?"

Haddad stared at him for a moment.

Sirius had his wand in hand, twirling it as if he were merely idling. But a flick would send a Stunner at the closest slave, followed by a nastier curse at the guard behind her. And he could almost feel Fleur's rage burning brighter.

Then their host sighed. "I may have heard some rumours about a band of criminals having... difficulties."

Sirius blinked. What did he mean?

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Hermine Granger bit her lower lip so hard, she expected to taste blood any moment. She couldn't help it, though - Harry was fighting for his life in front of her eyes, and she wasn't doing anything to help him.

She was hiding and watching as the entire pirate village hunted him, curses flying after him whenever those huge cones of light caught him. Which was far too often, in her opinion - the pirates knew how to use those spells.

Modified Wand-Lighting Charms, she assumed. The pirates had used them before, when they had been hunting Harry and Hermione in the jungle, though she didn't remember the spell's effect being quite so powerful. This wasn't a flashlight-like spell but a searchlight. Which, she reminded herself as Harry managed to skip into darkness, a pirate ship - or any ship - would need, so it made sense someone would have created such a spell.

She should've anticipated that, too. Instead, she had blindly assumed that the pirates didn't have better spells than the ones they had used before. That had been sloppy. Sloppy and stupid.

And now Harry might pay the price for her stupidity. She held her breath as Harry was caught in the searchlight's cone again - and pulled up sharply instead of flying lower to use the jungle as cover. What was he doing?

Flying southwards, as planned, of course. But too high. He was probably doing this so Hermione wouldn't be at risk of being detected by anyone's Human-presence-revealing Spell, but it meant he was in more danger.

She gasped when she caught a glimpse of a pirate on a broom in the light, followed by another. They were chasing after Harry. As planned.

She turned her attention to the village again. And the ship in the cove, which was listing heavily. The spikes must have holed her several times. And the pirates had trouble fixing her. Which was a little surprising - Mending Charms should work, after all. Unless the ship was warded against such spells. But why would you do that? Although… if it was an old ward, and the ship did look old, then chances were, it had developed some quirks. Interactions with other spells were common in such cases.

She bared her teeth. Served the pirates right! If they lost their ship, then that should put a stop to their raids - at least for some time.

Hermione looked at the prison. She couldn't see any lights there. If everyone was focused on saving the ship, then they should be able to break into the prison without resistance. But escaping with a fishing boat would be more difficult as well. Or even impossible - if their next distraction didn't work.

All was moot, though, if Harry didn't make it back to her.

She didn't want to think about that. Not at all. But she couldn't help it - and she had to plan ahead. If they caught Harry and locked him up in the prison, would she be able to free him? She doubted it. Even if the planned distractions with conjured enlarged animals worked perfectly, the pirates' numbers would be too large to draw all of them off to fight the animals, leaving her able to break into the prison.

No, if Harry were captured and she had to rescue him, then she'd need a more… effective distraction. She'd have to set up a danger to the village that couldn't be ignored and would draw every pirate to fight it.

And that narrowed down the available options quite considerably. Harry and she had gone over alternatives to the current plan already. This was the most effective distraction they had been able to think of.

The alternatives left were… questionable. Very questionable.

She pressed her lips together. She could think of only one way to distract all the pirates.

Fiendfyre.

She knew the incantation - she'd found it in some of the older books she had bought last year. She had never attempted to cast it, of course, but it wasn't supposed to be difficult to cast - just to control.

And Hermione wasn't planning on controlling the fire. Start at the opposite end of the village, unleash the cursed fire, and then use the chaos as the pirates tried to hold it back to evacuate the buildings in the eastern part of the village to sneak into the prison.

But Fiendfyre would ravage the entire island. With the pirate ship in danger of sinking, would the pirates even have the means to evacuate? Did they have enough brooms and smaller boats to save everyone? And would Harry, Hermione and the girl be able to steal a boat in the first place when everyone would be trying to flee?

If she was honest, then Hermione had to admit she didn't think so. The best they would be able to do was to swim for it. Somehow.

And there was a significant chance that pirates and their families might perish in the fire. Could she risk that?

She clenched her jaw. She didn't know.

But if they killed Harry…

They were doing all they could to kill him, Harry Potter knew. He rolled and banked, then swooped down towards the jungle, pulling up again after a quick dive - just in time to avoid the blast from another curse blowing up the trees below and behind him.

Something appeared in front of him, and he pulled to the left, rolling, as a bird of some sort hit his shield and splattered all over it. Harry winced at the gore dripping from his Shield Charm and dived towards the jungle's canopy again.

The pirates were getting creative. He had to find a way to lose them, and quickly. He pulled hard to the right, managing to escape the cone of light following him for a moment. It dipped low, then up, and caught him again.

So, they expected him to dive for the jungle. Well, that was his plan. He just had to figure out how to avoid getting shredded when they sent Blasting Curses after him. He glanced over his shoulder as he weaved back and forth, avoiding a barrage of curses. Over a dozen brooms behind him, judging by the number of spells flying past. Sooner or later, one of them would get lucky, and his shield wouldn't stop it.

Time to roll the dice and go for the Snitch, then - he was far enough from the village so Hermione would be safe. He snorted at the thought that she would kill him if she knew what he was doing. Then again, he might just save her the bother if this went wrong.

Taking a deep breath, he dived again. A green curse missed his shield by a hair's width, and more spells flew past before he reached the trees below him.

And kept going, straight through the dense foliage. Twigs and branches splintered as his shield ploughed through them. A trunk appeared in front of him, and he barely managed to turn enough to miss crashing into it.

Then he was through the canopy, above the underbrush. He kept going, veered to the side to avoid another tree trunk, then went even lower - he couldn't fly too high, or they would easily track him with spells. And he couldn't slow down, or their Blasting Curses would get him. He had to speed up. Any moment, the jungle would blow up.

He bared his teeth as he flew straight into the underbrush, his shield shattering when a particularly thick branch was broken, and pulled hard to the left, turning as tightly as he managed. He almost crashed into a trunk on the way, sliding past it close enough to rip his trousers, and finished his turn. Then he urged his broom forward, back towards the village. Back towards the pirates flying above him. No time to weave. No time to slow down. He could just fly and hope he didn't hit a tree.

And hope that the pirates' next Blasting Curse wouldn't hit until he was clear.

He gasped when he burst out of a bush and a trunk loomed ahead of him, throwing himself to the side, pulling the broom with him, wrenching the shaft left with all his might and weight. The tip of the broom cleared the trunk by inches.

His foot didn't. He heard a sickening crack and was thrown off-course as he careened to the side, smashing through some denser underbrush, losing speed, the pain… the pain…

The jungle blew up behind him, the brief flash of light illuminating the jungle in front of him - and the trees.

Harry bent over, tried to ignore the pain from his mangled foot, and flew as fast as he could, by memory rather than sight.

At least for the first two dozen yards.

Then he was flying blind again. And through underbrush that would blind him anyway. He had to slow down.

He didn't.

He barely avoided another tree, sent into a spin by his frantic evasive flying, then shook his head. He had to… where was north?

Another explosion told him where south was, and he turned and sped off again. A little slower, this time. And gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain from his foot. Broken for sure. Probably multiple times - he remembered the match where Malfoy had bumped him into the Hufflepuff stalls.

Were the trees thinning out? It looked like it. That meant he was close to the coast now. So, he would have to turn west, towards the village. Probably.

He kept going until he saw the surf of the beach in the dim light of the stars. Yes! And the pirates were still blowing up the jungle to the south.

Now he had to hurry to Hermione.

Hermione Granger could still hear faint explosions from the southeast. That meant the pirates were still chasing Harry. Or trying to kill him. If they hadn't already done that without noticing.

No! Harry was alive. He was following the plan - lure the pirates deeper into the jungle, then lose them.

He had to.

She bit her lower lip until it hurt. He had to be OK.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down. Focus on the village below - the pirates still hadn't repaired the ship. And the prison was still dark. Now all she needed was for Harry to return, and...

"Hermione?"

She whipped her head around. "Harry?" she whispered before she could help herself.

"There you are!"

She saw him about ten yards away, guiding his broom towards her. "I got lost a little," he said.

She didn't care - she rushed to hug him before he could dismount. "Harry!"

He was alive. The pirates hadn't caught him. Or killed him. And he was… "Are you alright?"

"Ah…"

She hissed and took a step back, pointing her wand at him. "Where are you hurt?"

"It's mostly just scratches."

"Those can get infected if not treated, and… 'Mostly'?"

"I hit my foot."

She clenched her teeth. "Show me."

He didn't step on it when he dismounted, she noted. And even in the dim light available, she could see that his shoe had been torn. The force to cause that… She pressed her lips together. He must be in great pain.

She prodded his foot, and he hissed in response. "That hurt," she said.

"Yes."

"I have to check it more closely," she told him. "I should vanish the shoe, but…" They didn't have a replacement. "I'll cut it off. We can mend it." After she mended his foot.

A Cutting Charm took care of the mangled shoe and sock. Then she could finally examine - as far as she was able to, at least - his foot.

And it didn't look good.

"I think it's broken," she told him. "I can mend the bones, but…"

"But?"

"I can't do anything about torn ligaments or tissue," she replied. Other than casting some small healing charms to stop the bleeding. Which she did now.

"As long as it's not broken any more." He was trying to make light of it, of course.

"You won't be able to walk on it."

"Oh, I can transfigure a cast. Sort of. I'll be able to walk."

"But the pain…"

He shook his head. "Just mend the bones. The pirates won't blow up the jungle for much longer."

Right. She took a deep breath, then pointed the wand at his foot. "Brackium Emendo!"

He sighed - though it sounded like a hiss. "Thank you."

She didn't answer. The foot was swollen, and she couldn't do anything about that. Harry couldn't even pull the shoe on, she realised. And he wanted to walk on it? Had to walk on it, she reminded herself, if they wanted to escape. "Stay on the broom," she told him.

"I'll try."

She nodded. "Let's go!"

Hermione mounted their broom behind Harry, carefully keeping her foot away from his. "Let's start conjuring and transfiguring the animals now, before enlarging them, she said." At least, in the darkness, they'd be safe. Relatively.

"Yes," Harry said in a tense tone.

She raised her wand. "Avis! Avis! Avis!"

A swarm of birds appeared, flying around her. They were waiting for her directions, unlike the mice Harry would be creating from pebbles and bits of wood.

But now to enlarge them. "Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio!"

Soon, the sounds of flapping wings made talking in low voices impossible.

And beneath them, a horde of giant mice was forming. Though the first mice were already wandering off. "We need to make them move to the village!" she said, then repeated herself, raising her voice.

"Set the forest on fire!"

Was that his solution to everything? She shook her head. "I've got a better idea." She focused and waved her wand.

And her giant birds started diving at the enlarged mice, driving them towards the village. Soon, a veritable stampede of squeaking, panicked mice entered the village, followed by screeching birds the size of large eagles. Or extinct eagles.

And Harry and Hermione were on the way towards the prison.

His foot was still hurting, of course - the bones might be mended, but everything else was still a mess. But Harry Potter had to bear the pain. For Hermione's sake - if she thought he couldn't stand it, couldn't pull his weight… who knew what she would do? Harry didn't, not exactly, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good thing.

At least, as long as he was on the broom, he didn't need his foot. And it didn't hurt much like this.

He guided the broom along the edge of the village. Outside the range of the lights lit in the port - half the buildings had the lights on. And the ship was brightly lit - several pirates were flying around it with some Wand-Lighting Charms, and more were on the tilting ship. That would be a decent distraction by itself.

Halfway to the prison - still dark - he heard shouting from the easter part of the village. They must have noticed the birds and mice. "Not very attentive," he commented.

"That might change now that they are aware they're under attack."

Right. Perhaps they should've skipped the distraction and just sneaked into the prison - but what was done was done. Second-guessing yourself in the middle of something was generally a bad idea, as Sirius had taught him. They just had to press on.

And, he added silently, since the screaming and shouting was still going on - and growing louder - the distraction was working as planned anyway.

"They're split between the swarms and the ship," Hermione whispered into his ear. "We won't get a better opportunity."

He nodded in return and urged the broom on, approaching the prison from the west, using the building itself to block the rest of the village from seeing them.

"Bring us to the window on the first floor!" Hermione snapped.

He flew up though he couldn't help wondering if she had said that to keep him on the broom. "I can't keep an eye on the village like this," he whispered.

"And they can't spot us," she retorted. He heard her whisper: "Avis!", and another bird appeared and instantly grew into a huge size. "That's to test for additional protections once I remove the bars."

They had gone over that before, but he knew that Hermione liked explaining things.

"Evanesco!"

The bars didn't vanish. Harry flicked his own wand. "Evanesco!"

"It must be charmed against it," Hermione replied. "We could try to dispel it, but…" She pointed her wand at one bar, and a Cutting Curse hit it.

Harry cocked his head. There was a cut in the metal - about a third of the diameter had been cut. "That seems to work," he commented.

She didn't answer but started casting more curses in quick succession. Harry followed her example. After a minute or two, the bars began falling to the ground.

Harry caught all except the first with a Levitation Charm. "The shouting's dying down," he said. "They'll have dealt with the swarms."

"We could redo them," Hermione suggested in a whisper as she cut the last bar.

"They'll realise it's a distraction then. Let's go in before they finish!"

"Wait! I'll send my bird in!"

The bird - larger than any eagle Harry had ever seen - landed on the windowsill, folded its wings to fit through the opening - and exploded in a cloud of gore and feathers. Several bits and pieces struck Harry's Shield Charm and fell down on the ground.

He cursed. That was a potent curse. Old wards - dark, too.

"I can't dispel that curse, certainly not quickly enough," Hermione whispered. "We'll have to go through the wall."

"It'll be protected against the Vanishing Charm."

"But it might not be protected against Reductor Curses," she retorted.

Harry snorted almost against his will. That was… "They'll hear us for sure," he told her.

"Do you have a better idea?"

He didn't. "We need a distraction for the blasts, though," he said, turning his head and looking towards the sea. "We'll start casting Reductor Curses at the ship and at the edge of the village. Then we fly down and break into the prison." The pirates would be too busy protecting their ship and their homes to worry about the prison.

"Alright. But hurry."

He pulled on the broom's shaft, and they quickly rose above the prison. The village was brightly illuminated now. And the eastern end of it was shrouded in smoke.

"They didn't just dispel them," Hermione muttered.

Good for them, Harry thought. That meant the pirates weren't as smart as they had feared. "I'll take the ship. You take the buildings!"

"Alright."

Harry cast his first Reductor Curse, sending it against the pirate ship's hull, followed by another before the first spell hit.

The curses detonated, causing more yelling and screaming. A moment later, more explosions followed from the village.

Harry quickly started flying in random search patterns, to throw off the pirates trying to track them, and cast two more curses.

"I can't aim like this!" Hermione complained.

"You don't need to aim - you just have to hit the village!" he told her.

"What if I hit someone by mistake?"

He didn't have an answer for that. None that he liked.

But they had no choice - he couldn't stay in place, or the pirates would track them.

He cast another curse at the ship - he hadn't seen much damage so far, but the pirates acted as if the ship was sinking, or so it seemed - then started to fly back to the prison. Halfway, he cast a Ventriloquism Charm to make it appear as if they were above the eastern edge of the pirate village.

Time to find out if their plan had worked.

"Surrender! We have sunk your ship! You cannot escape any more!"

Hermione Granger gritted her teeth at the yell coming from behind them. Really? Where did Harry get his dialogue from? Action movies?

She twisted, turning her upper body, and pointed her wand at a house straight at the edge of the jungle. Her Reductor Curse hit it and exploded against its side, followed by another that hit the trees next to it.

Too late she realised what kind of splinters this would send flying. If anyone had been outside without a Shield Charm… They are Pirates. Slavers, she told herself.

They flew over the prison, and she sent another Reductor Curse back, this time aimed further into the jungle. That would, or so she hoped, make the pirates think they were still attacking from that direction.

Harry brought the broom to a stop in front of the window they had opened, hovering in mid-air, using the prison as a shield.

Hermione swallowed. "Watch your Shield Charm," she whispered. Then she sent a Reductor Curse straight at the wall. Splinters and brick parts flew as a small cloud of dust obscured the impact. She didn't wait to check - the curse wouldn't have gone through the wall - and sent another at it. And a third. Harry started casting as well. Fragments pelted her shield, but it held. Harry was moving a little bit away from the prison, though.

"Keep us close," she told him, "the wizards on the ship can see us otherwise."

He guided the broom back, and she sent another curse at the wall. A moment later, the dust and smoke cloud was blown away - Harry had cast a spell.

The wall had been cracked - but the hole wasn't big enough to crawl through, much less fly. She aimed her wand at the sides, widening the gap with a few more quick curses while Harry did the same on the other side.

Almost wide enough to enter… But it was taking too long.

"We need to send a few more Reductor Curses at the village," Harry told her.

"Alright. Take us up."

He tilted the broom back - she had to grab his upper body to keep herself from sliding off - and moved up, towards the edge of the roof.

Right before he reached it, though, he dipped down again. "Broom riders. Too close."

She gasped. No. Their distraction… wouldn't work any more. "The pirates have returned?"

"Must have," Harry said in a flat voice. She felt him take a deep breath. "Alright." Another deep breath. "You crawl through the hole. Get the girl. And then sneak to the beach to steal the boat."

"No!" she hissed.

He went on as if she hadn't said anything. "I'll lure them away. I'll… lose them and return to the point where we hid to observe them."

"No!" She hugged him more tightly. "That won't work."

"It's our only chance."

"It's suicide!" His suicide.

"If I don't lure them away, they'll get all of us. And you can't fly as well as I can."

She dug her fingers into his shirt. "No!"

"Please." He grabbed her hands and tried to pry them loose.

"No! We need a better plan!" One that didn't involve the idiot sacrificing himself.

"We don't have a better plan."

She wouldn't let him kill himself. Not like this. Not at all. But he was right - they didn't have a better plan. And the longer they waited, the higher was the chance that someone flew close enough to spot them.

But she couldn't let Harry do this. Not now. Not when they were so close. There had to be another way! If only they could… Oh.

"We shrink ourselves - and the girl. And we hide," she told him. "They'll think we've escaped already, and they'll look for us on the island."

"That's too…"

"Not any more dangerous than your plan." At least for him. "And you wanted to do this, didn't you?"

She felt him tense up, then sigh. "Alright."

And despite the fact that she had not too low odds of killing herself with her plan, she smiled.

"Let's go in!" She reached for the battered edge of the hole in the wall. If the ward covered this as well… She closed her eyes and grabbed the stone, then pulled herself over, quickly scrambling through the hole.

She didn't die.

"Come on!" she hissed to Harry. Any moment, a pirate could fly over the prison and spot them - or his spell could detect them.

He guided the broom into the hole, bent low over it, and managed to squeeze through - with just some tearing against the ragged bricks. And some bumping of his mangled foot that made him grimace in obvious pain.

Hermione acted as if she hadn't noticed. "Come on." She hurried through the hallway to the cell she remembered from their earlier visit.

The girl was in her cell, curled up in a corner, shaking with fear.

She was afraid of them, Hermione realised with a sinking feeling. Oh, no! They were still covered in ash and soot! "Mademoiselle?" she whispered. "On est venus pour te sauver!"

The girl froze. She understood French, then. Good. "Qui êtes vous?"

"Hermione Granger et Harry Potter." She started cutting the bars around the lock of the cell. Harry quickly joined her.

"Vous n'êtes pas des pirates?"

"Non." One bar cut. Still no alert outside. Maybe they would be able to escape…

Another bar cut. Hermione and Harry worked together on the third, which quickly gave way as well, and she pushed the door open. "Viens!"

The girl dropped her blanket and trotted over. She was wearing slightly tattered robes. Silk ones, though.

"I think we can escape now - they haven't noticed us yet," Harry said.

"Unless they're waiting for us to leave," Hermione said. "Like the wyvern."

"That's not sure," Harry said. "Might be safer than shrinking us."

Follow the original plan and escape on the broom? Or risk shrinking themselves and hide and wait?

Hermione bit her lower lip.

What should they do?