"Do I know you? You seem familiar..."
"Why am I not surprised you don't even remember me?, Potter?
"My name is Daphne Greengrass. I was a Slytherin in the same year as you."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Daphne."
"Nice to meet you too, Potter."
"..."
"Thanks Daphne, you're a good teacher."
"Thanks, Potter."
"..."
"Wow Daphne, that spell was brilliant!"
"Thank you, Harry."
"..."
"Are you going to continue staring at me for long, Harry, or will you... did you just kiss me?"
"Yes? I mean, I'm sorry if you didn't want it, but I really really like you and I thought you also... And you just kissed me..."
"I really like you too."
"..."
"Harry, wake up." was the first thing Harry heard when he awoke from his short slumber. His mind protested as he opened his eyes, wishing for more sleep. The room was still dark, the single source of light coming from Sirius' lit end of his wand. Thankfully, he had the mind not to put it too close to Harry, knowing it would irritate him.
"Almost there?" he asked tiredly to Sirius.
"Yes. Land appeared on our port side an hour ago. We should be an hour from sunrise. Maybe less."
"Thanks for telling me." he said, yawning loudly.
After stretching and scratching his back, Harry followed his godfather out of the room. He was surprised to see Jay at the helm. "Didn't you go to sleep?" he asked with amusement.
"He woke up a few minutes before you did." Sirius answered for the man. "I was ready to come find you when he just climbed out of the lower decks."
"I wanted to be awake at landfall like you, Captain." Jay explained, turning the helm slightly to lower the impact of a wave.
"Make sense." Harry muttered, climbing up the stairs and rubbing his eyes. He went to stand next to the helm with Sirius taking the same position, but on the other side of Jay.
From his point of view, Harry took a few minutes to look at the sea around them. To their port side, he could see a long strip of land cover their horizon while to their right, a few small islands protruded from the water. In front of them was a mountain which just began to appear over their horizon. And, finally, behind them was a small Spanish schooner following in their trail.
Harry grabbed the spyglass and took a closer look at the ship. He was relieved to see a lack of canons aboard. As for the sailors, they lacked any kind of military uniform or weapons. From the looks of it, it was a merchant ship.
"I believe the ship behind us is going to stop at Salt Key Banks as well." he said to Sirius and Jay. "Perhaps it should be best to leave them the dock if there is only one."
"Will we swim there or take a rowboat?" asked Jay. Harry and Sirius glanced at each other. They knew that if they were alone, they would simply apparate somewhere in the village and back to the ship. But now they had Jay to think about.
Sirius answered after a few moments of silence. "Maybe it would be best to row. I'm not the best of swimmers and I doubt you want to find yourself back in the sea after nearly drowning not long ago." he told Jay, who nodded in agreement.
"Rowing it will be, then." Harry said.
An hour and a half later saw Harry stand in the crow's nest, holding on the mast with one hand to keep himself stable and looking over the horizon. For a brief moment, he could not help but think of one of the first scene of a pirate movie he and Daphne had watched back in 2003. The thought made him snicker.
By that point, the sky behind the Phoenix and the merchant schooner had already turned pink while the horizon slowly turned orange. The sun was slowly beginning to rise, which meant they were close to their destination. Not that he needed to be told as he could see the village of Salt Keys Bank in front of the Phoenix. They were only minutes from docking at their destination.
He apparated back to the Captain's cabin where he had entered before apparating to the crow's nest to ensure Jay wouldn't notice anything. He quickly walked out of the room and used his wand to raise the sails completely.
"Let's anchor once we're close to the village." he told Sirius before turning to Jay. "Make sure to leave enough space for other ships to dock."
"Aye, Captain." said Jay.
Harry smiled. He was getting used to be called a captain and found he quite liked it. For a moment, he wondered what Daphne would think about being married to a ship captain. Probably wouldn't really care, now that he thought of it. She hadn't cared about his title of Man-Who-Conquered, after all. He was just Harry to her, and that's what he loved from her.
Harry and Sirius made their way to the bow and, after waiting until they were close to the village, dropped the left anchor. They had to wait a few moments for the anchor to hit the seafloor and take hold. When it did, the sudden freeze of momentum made the ship groan and sent Harry and Sirius crashing on the floor.
"Oof!" Harry exclaimed, falling stomach first on the deck. Sirius laughed as they stood back up.
"We should have waited for the ship to be slower before dropping the anchor." he commented. Harry couldn't help but let out a laugh of his own.
With the Phoenix stopped and anchored in the waters of Salt Key Bank, the trio began making their preparations to go to the village. On the recommendation from Jay that they do not explore new surroundings unarmed, Harry grabbed his black musket with him and attached it to his back with a belt while Sirius and Jay shared the swords. Then with the help of subtle magic from the wizards, the trio quickly put a boat down in the water before jumping inside of it. Then, they rowed to the beach, carefully waiting for the schooner to pass by and dock before crossing the waters.
As they approached the village, Harry couldn't help but be baffled at the strange construction they witnessed. The village was built on a cliff surrounding a waterfall and it showed. Like the village on Crooked Island, the village of Salt Key Bank was built on silts with nothing more but wood and hay. What baffled Harry was the location of the houses. Most of them were built up the cliff, a good dozen meters higher than the harbour. However, as far as he could see, there were no stairs that led up there. Only two ladders connected the harbour to the rest of the village. Worse, the bridge connecting both cliffs on each side of the waterfall was broken, leaving a huge gap Harry wasn't sure could be cleared by a good jump.
All and all, Harry didn't fully understand how the village could function when ladders were the only way upward. After all, there had to be a way to bring crates of supplies up there. He was very curious to see how they did it.
The rowing boat made landfall on the beach pass the dock. Harry, Sirius and Jay jumped out and pulled it further up the beach to ensure it would not float away while it was left unattended.
"Well, we'll be there for twenty-four hours. What do you guys want to do in the meantime?" Harry asked, looking at his fellow sailors. Sirius and Jay shared a look. It didn't take long for them to decide.
"Is there a pub?"
There was. So they went to it. It took them a few minutes to figure the way there, though.
"Do you think we have to climb the ladder?" Jay asked, looking up where Harry believed the sound of music was coming.
"I think so." Harry answered with a small grin.
"What a stupid idea." Sirius snickered.
The later went first to scout the terrain. Before he'd even fully climbed up the ladder, he yelled "It's here!" So, Jay went second, followed by Harry third.
When they arrived there, the trio's ears were immediately filled with music played by a lone man. As it was still early in the morning, not many people were at the pub but, already, a few men and women were there taking a drink and talking.
The three sailors of the Phoenix made their way to the bar. Like during their visit of Crooked Island, Harry did not take anything to drink, instead seeking further information while Sirius bought a bottle of rum. Jay also bought a drink but instead chose a single glass of wine, to Harry's surprise.
"I thought you sailors preferred rum over everything else." he teased after thanking the bartender for the giving him information.
"Most do, but not I." he said, grimacing. "Wine is the only thing I like to drink at a pub. I only drink rum when there is no clean water."
Harry could imagine it was a common problem. They were in the time period where the Americas were still being explored and colonized. The plumbing system he had lived with all of his life was still centuries away.
"What about you, Captain?" Jay asked. "You aren't drinking anything."
"Not a fan of alcohol." Harry said with a grimace of his own. "The taste make me want to gag."
"Not surprising considering how much it burns." the young man said, making them both chuckle.
Harry looked back at the rest of the open pub to find Sirius dancing with two women at the same time, trying to keep his bottle of rum from spilling over.
"He's certainly having fun." Jay commented.
"Good for him." Harry returned. "Sirius didn't have a lot of fun moments these past fourteen years. He was framed for a crime by a friend of his and thrown in a horrible prison for twelve years without a trial. Then, he escaped and had to live in hiding until we both found our ways to the Caribbean Sea." he said. Jay didn't say anything, only humming in understanding.
Eventually, a new conversation began and they discussed what they would do next.
"A good thing would be to get clothes." Jay commented, looking at his worn down shirt and pants. "It would be good for your godfather too. I don't know what he's wearing but it's attracting looks." he nodded in Sirius' direction.
Looking at his godfather, Harry could see what the other young man was talking about. While everyone in the pub wore greys, whites, blues and even a bit of green and yellow, Sirius had a red coat that stood out very much. Worse, the clothes were very much out of their time – not that people other than Harry and Sirius knew it.
"I did take note to buy clothes earlier in the trip, but I was planning on doing so once we arrived to Nassau in a few days. But, now that you're mentioning it, it might be best to take care of it now – assuming they sell clothes here.
"They likely do." Jay said.
Harry was about to add something when a deep female voice next to them spoke. "You're going to Nassau?"
Harry and Jay turned to look at the newcomer. It was a woman with a tanned and scared face and dark eyes. She had a red bandana attached around her forehead where jet black hair protruded from. The woman wore a yellow-green coat, a red vest and a white shirt.
"Yes, that's the final destination of our voyage." he eventually answered. "Why?"
"You'd be crazy to sail in this weather." the woman said, nodding in direction of the harbour where stormy clouds and distant flashes of light could be seen in the sky.
One look at Jay's face and Harry was forced to admit the woman had a point. His companion looked at the dark clouds with a look akin to fear, which did not reassure Harry. When he had first noticed the storm, he simply told himself they would sail around it if necessary. However, it was obvious it no longer was an option as, by the time they were scheduled to leave, the storm would be hovering over the village.
Of course, if it was just him and Sirius sailing, he might have tempted it but with Jay around to limit the magic they did, Harry had no choice but to wait it out.
"You're right. It would be best for us to stay until the sky clears." he said with a nod, immediately earning himself a look of relief from Jay. He turned to the woman. "Thank you for your insight. What's your name anyway?" he asked curiously.
"James Kidd." she said.
Harry blinked. "Huh. My dad was also named James. Still, it's a bit weird to give this name to a girl but hey! Who am I to judge?" he shrugged before walking away from the bar, not noticing the confused look on Jay's face or the shocked one on "James'".
The storm ended-up lasting longer than Harry expected. It took three days for the heavy winds to slow down and the rain to calm down enough to allow sailing.
Harry and Sirius used the three days they were given diligently, buying all the needed resources they could get their hands on like food and weapons. Thanks to this, Harry was now the owner of his own sword while Sirius and Jay had two pistols attached to their belt.
Shopping was especially interesting when came time for them to buy clothes. Loving his black cloak very much, Harry decided to stay in the theme and bought few black hooded robes, black pants and boots which reached his knees. He also bought a belt along with a black sash to put under.
As for Sirius, he decided it would be fun to dress like a pirate. Thus, he bought himself a long brown coat, a black vest, a white shirt, beige pants, a belt with a red sash and brown boots. Finally, he also bought a red bandana to attach around his forehead and a brown tricorn. With their new clothes, Harry and Sirius quickly escaped to the refuge of the Phoenix to change before the clothes got all wet.
As Harry was attaching his belt around his waist, he heard Sirius say "So, what do you think? Do I look like a proper sailor?" Harry turned only to freeze at Sirius' appearance.
He immediately burst out laughing.
"What?" Sirius asked, confused.
"You...! You look like...!" Harry attempted to say amidst his laughter. "You look like Jack Sparrow!"
"Who?" he asked, still confused.
"A character from a movie!" he answered, still laughing. "You look just like him! Like wow!" he said, wiping his eyes. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had been one of the few movies he and Daphne watched in theaters and by far his favourite to date. He never forgot its main character thus was utterly shocked when he saw his godfather dressed just like him. He was still laughing by the time they left the Captain's cabin a few minutes later.
The shopping took place on the first and second days in Salt Key Bank. Harry left Sirius and Jay free to do whatever they wanted on their third day of waiting for the storm to recede. While Sirius went back to the village to get to spend more time with one of the lady he'd met on the first day at the pub, both Harry and Jay stayed aboard the Phoenix. Together, they spent the whole morning making a list of all the things they believed they needed to improve on the ship.
"Your cannons are definitely old." Jay told him as they inspected one of them on the lower deck. "With their wear, I don't think they can shoot further than three-quarter of their intended range."
"Yeah, it would be best if we could get new ones." Harry said. At the back of his mind, he was already thinking about whether or not it would be possible to replicate the modifications he gave his musket to the cannons. Cooling charms? Certainly. What he didn't know what whether or not the gunpowder could be generated in such quantities and whether or not a cannonball could be conjured. That would necessitate some research for later. "What other?"
"The hull." Jay said grimly. "I gave a quick look outside and some planks of wood are nearly rotten. Worse, when I was exploring the cargo hold, I noticed a small hole that leaked water. I patched it up as best I can but it will need to be properly repaired soon."
"Merlin's beard..." Harry muttered. "How much water was down there?"
"Not much. Less than an inch covering the floor. The hole was very small and, if I had to guess, I would say it was only a few days old. Still, the more water comes in, the bigger the hole will grow and, at some point, it will become unmanageable."
"Right, we'll have work to do in Nassau."
By mid-afternoon on the third day, the rain had stopped and the wind had calmed enough to allow for sailing. While the sky was still very full of grey clouds, everyone believed the rain had gone for good.
The Captain of the Phoenix made his way to stand behind the helm. He looked at his two companions who were standing next to him on both sides.
"So, gentlemen," Harry said. "Are you ready to sail for Nassau?"
Harry's early calculations predicted it would take the Phoenix thirty hours to reach Nassau from Salt Key Bank. The first twenty-four hours of the journey were spend under a grey, cloudy sky. From time to time, droplets of water would drop from the sky to land on the deck of the ship and the faces of the three men. Thankfully, other than a slight increase in wind speed, nothing indicated the weather was on its way to change.
Unfortunately, as they discovered against their wills, the storm wasn't done yet. On the last stretch of the trip, heavy rain began to fall and, minutes later, thunder was seen and heard. With the arrival of high waves that battered the hull of the ship, the trio knew the last straight line would be the most difficult one to go through.
The sun had long set and the sky had turned very dark. Harry was exhausted, having long passed the point he was supposed to go to sleep. Trying to stay steady on the deck of the ship without falling off, he was waving his wand furiously at a mess of ropes that held the sails deployed. One of the ropes was on the verge of snapping and Harry had to fix it before it gave. He and Sirius had long given up on trying to keep their magic secret, much prefering to stay alive.
As he waved his wand to repair the rope, he heard Jay's cry from the quarterdeck. "BRACE!" Harry looked up at the front of the ship only to see a very tall wave move in their direction. Grinding his teeth, he stopped what he was doing and ran to hold on the bulwark. Just as he did, the ship hit a big wave that rocketed everyone, nearly throwing Harry up. The ship then pitched up and Harry had to hold even harder to avoid sliding down the deck. Then, it fell back down. Once they passed it, he immediately released his hold on the bulwark and ran back to the ropes only to notice with horror that the rope had snapped.
"Accio rope!" he cried. The snapped rope landed in his free hand and Harry pulled it with all of his strength to the other ropes and began casting repairing spells. Before long, the rope was reconnected to its other-half and fully repaired, strongly holding on the sail.
He let out a small sigh of relief, wiping his wet forehead. Despite having his black hood up and covering his face, the wizard was disappointed to learn it barely protected his face in a storm. If it wasn't bad enough, he was exhausted and because of the storm, was forced to stay on deck to help keep the Phoenix afloat. With only three members onboard, everyone was needed.
While Harry and Sirius used their magic to keep the ship in proper condition and fix everything the storm was breaking, Jay was put on helms duty. From his post, the man piloted the ship and barked orders – sometimes to deploy or raise the sails and sometimes to fix something he noticed was breaking. They had developed a system where whoever was behind the helm got to call the shots. As it was Jay, both Harry and Sirius obeyed him despite being the co-captains in all but name.
"LOWER THE SAILS, THREE QUARTERS POSITION!" Jay yelled to be heard over the storm. Harry ran to the second mast and used his wand to lower the sails until they were deployed to Jay's specification. Then, he ran to Sirius.
"Need help?" he nearly yelled over the winds.
"No, I'm -"
"BRACE!" came Jay's voice.
"Oh not again!" Harry whined as he ran to the nearest mast while Sirius took hold of the bulwark. The wave hit the ship and the Phoenix glided over it. After a few seconds, it was over.
"Dammit!" Sirius cursed loudly. "I didn't sign up for this!"
"You didn't sign up for jack shit!" Harry snorted. "And anyway, whose bright idea was it to sail a ship? Yours!"
"Yeah – yeah! Tell me again how bad an idea it was once we're clear of this storm!"
"Oh I'll do! Trust me!"
A loud crack was suddenly heard come from further down the ship, specifically on the left side of the hull. Harry immediately ran to the port side and looked down at the hull. He was horrified to see one of the planks had cracked, allowing water in. "Shit!" he cursed as he ran to the grates leading down below.
Once on the lower deck, Harry made his way through the tight corridors to where the crack was located. Thankfully, it was over the waterline but, as they were sailing in the middle of the storm, many waves small and big alike hit the crack, letting a lot of water in. To stop the situation from becoming worse, Harry magically fixed the plank until it was brand knew. Then, he vanished the water.
Since he was there, he decided to check on the cargo hold to ensure no further leaks remained. It was a good thing Harry did as he noticed water coming in from the bow of the ship. There, a small hole the size of a musket round was present, letting in a slow but steady flow of water. Once more, Harry used his wand to fix the hole. Then, he ran back to the main deck. His face was immediately hit by the blowing wind and the heavy rain, making him groan in exhaustion.
"Please, make it stop!" he muttered.
The storm only began to calm down three hours later. By that point, the sun had already risen, not that they noticed at the time due to the dark thick clouds covering the sky. The completely exhausted Harry could barely stand on his two feet and was pleading to all the deities that existed for the storm to cease.
Whether someone answered or by pure lucky timing, Harry didn't know. But, he didn't care as he noticed the storm calm down shorty after his prayer. First the waves and wind lowered in intensity, followed by the rain all but vanishing. The sky cleared up, turning from a stormy grey to a comforting yellowish orange. Harry looked up at the morning sun and nearly cried when he felt its rays of sunlight. He knew what it meant.
They were out of the storm. It was over.
"We did it..." he said, sitting down as his legs nearly gave up. He leaned on the bulwark and began laughing in disbelief. "We did it!"
"Hell yes we did!" Sirius said, collapsing next to him. Both were sitting right next to the stairs leading to the quarterdeck, allowing Jay to be part of the conversation while piloting the ship.
"Neptune doesn't have anything on us!" the young man said. "He tried to drown us but failed!"
"Yes, he did." Harry chuckled as he closed his eyes. "Damn, I'm tired."
"We should be to Nassau soon. Then you'll have all the time you need to rest." Sirius said. Harry hummed. The two stayed silent for a moment before his godfather added "Do you know how much time we have left before we reach Nassau?"
"I don't." Harry groaned. "I have no idea what time it is and I'm too bone tired to check for our position."
"Then go to sleep, Harry." Sirius said, patting him on the back. "I'm sure we can hold our own without you."
"I'll do that. Thanks." Harry yawned.
So tired Harry was that he needed the help of Sirius to get back on his feet to walk to the cabin. Once inside, he only wasted time to use a drying charm before laying down in the hammock. Not even seconds later, Harry was asleep.
Harry wouldn't wake up until much later. Unlike the previous days, it wasn't because someone had shaken him awake. Rather, it was because of the way he felt the ship move.
Or, rather, the way it didn't.
Other than the slow and calm rocking down Harry had long associated to the small waves hitting the sides of the hull, nothing told him that the ship was currently sailing. If he didn't know better, he would assume they were currently anchored. But that couldn't be possible. They hadn't reached Nassau yet... right?"
Well, they apparently had as the first thing Harry noticed when he walked out of the cabin was the lack of sea around them. Instead, he saw hills and houses and the masts of other anchored ships. In the corner of his eyes, he even saw a fort towering over everything else.
The Phoenix had arrived to Nassau.
A/N: When I was younger, I thought Sirius Black and Jack Sparrow were played by the same actor. Of course, I've now know for years it was not the case (Gary Oldman is Sirius and Johnny Depp is Jack Sparrow) but I still decided to reference that belief of my younger self by having Harry think both look identical.
Oh, and it's also because I finally watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean a few days ago and decided to reference it lol. (I really loved the movie. Have to watch the second one now).