I don't own Harry Potter, but I really, really wish I did.

Chapter 5: At Helm

Harry stood slumped over the rail of the Ramien, watching as the ship cut through the waves at an almost alarming rate. Harry didn't know much about ships but he did wonder how they managed to keep up their incredible rate of speed without the thing flying into pieces. The wind whipped his cloak back and he quickly caught it in one hand. For the middle of summer it was dreadfully cold up on deck. As he turned to lean against the rail, letting the wind catch him full in the face, he spied Hermione making her way towards him. She, unlike most of the others, was perfectly comfortable at sea, and had gotten her sea legs early. Ron, Harry, Tala and Moody had had to take a potion to ward off seasickness and still weren't comfortable with the rocking motion of the ship.

Harry glanced towards the prow, where Ginny was leaning, her face towards the west and the wind tossing her hair back from her face like a living flame. She was smiling happily, and she laughed every time a particularly large wave broke over the ship and misted her with spray. Hermione followed his glance as she joined him at the rail.

"She loves it." She said loudly, as she tried to catch her tossing hair in one hand. It had frizzed beyond belief in the damp weather. Harry turned to her with a pained grimace. She couldn't quite stifle a chuckle. "It's not so bad, Harry."

"Easy for you to say," He replied grumpily.

"Do you need more potion?" He shook his head. "Well, make sure not to ignore it if you start feeling sick again." Before he had taken the potion he had vomited out most of the small meal he had consumed at the beginning of the journey, before they hit rough seas. The fact that he had been joined by three other people made the incident much less embarrassing, especially since one of them was Moody.

"I'm going to head below," He said loudly. And Hermione nodded before heading off to join Ginny. Unlike the small red-head, she did not seem to find it particularly amusing when she was drenched by the spray. He thought he heard her utter a very un-Hermione- like word before he moved out of earshot and her face was very cross. He made his way, very unsteadily, as he was wobbling side to side with the ship, towards the stern. There, on a raised deck that contained the door leading down to the cabins, was Captain Joseph, looking as though Christmas had come early as he twirled the helm.

"Isn't it great, Harry!?" He bellowed. Harry didn't trust himself to answer. "Give me a storm tossed sea and a sturdy ship then send me off to stroll the world." It sounded to Harry as though he were reciting something. He thought he probably should answer.

"Er...yeah." It wasn't much of an answer but it was the best he could do at the moment, trying to keep his footing as a wave drenched the deck. Captain Joseph had done the typical stare when he had seen Harry on deck, his eyes moving to the scar and then down to his passenger manifesto. Then it seemed as though he had promptly forgotten it.

"And move through ports that few have seen, to seek myself behind the setting sun, in the craters of the moon, and to sail through the veil when my time is done. Oh give me a ship that turns the tides and follows the path of the stars..." Joseph continued to recite in a jovial voice, his curly ponytail tossing in the wind, his face turned towards the sky, and an ecstatic grin stretching his mouth.

Harry stared at him for a long moment, his mouth set into a grim line, then he turned his gaze to his boots, watching as the water from a huge wave swamped the deck and swirled around them. The man before him, at this moment, was a man who was completely and utterly happy. His entire being shone with it, joy radiating out into the damp and gloomy air surrounding him. Harry wondered what it would feel like to be so happy. He had doubts that he would ever feel that way; not for a long time, perhaps, maybe never would; not with this burden that he had to bear. And the day that it might be lifted was the day that he found out if he would live or die.

Right now, the only thing that could make him as happy as Captain Joseph looked, would be Sirius. Harry's jaws clenched and he made his deliberate way belowdecks, the captain's voice still ringing through the air behind him.

Their cabins were located amidships, and Harry had to pass by several sealed doors before he reached them. He wondered if they contained the passengers who had underwater destinations. The flickering lamps cast odd shadows through the hallway, and Harry, once or twice, found himself looking back over his shoulder to see if he had been followed. He reached the cabin that they shared without seeing a single soul, however. And once he opened the door and stepped in, he remembered why he had left in the first place.

Lupin, who was still looking rather grumpy, was sitting reclined on one of the bunks holding Tala, who had her eyes closed and her hands clutching at his robes almost in a death grip. "Don't like this, no, not at all." She kept murmuring.

"It'll be alright, dear." Lupin was assuring her, stroking her hair in soothing motions. They had been doing that when he had left, too. Ron was stretched out prone on his bunk, his arm over his eyes. He was muttering about something involving sea monsters. Harry hoped Tala couldn't hear him.

Meanwhile, Moody was sitting in one of the chairs that ere magically attached to the boards. He was glaring ferociously, as though daring the sea to just try and make him sick again. Harry was glad that he was not the window that Moody was glaring at. This window was the source of Tala and Ron's unease. And Harry was sure that, had it not been there, this voyage would have been far pleasanter.

"Harry," Moody grunted without turning around, and he knew that his magical eye was peering straight at him through the back of his head.

"Pro...Moody." Harry returned the greetings just as shortly. He moved over to his bunk, which was near Ron's, and, pulling off his damp boots and cloak, and, after gently moving Durry aside, stretched himself out on his bed. He hadn't hoped to get any sleep, but with Durry's purring in his ear, he found himself drifting off.

He was standing on the deck, somewhat behind where the captain was steering at the helm. But this captain didn't have a long, curly ponytail that streamed back in the prevailing winds. For one thing, this captain had black hair, and it was shorter, merely brushing the shoulders of the tall man. Then Harry heard the captain laugh, a great, booming laugh like the bark of a dog.

"Sirius?" Harry asked in a strangled voice. The man turned, leaving the spinning helm behind him. And as the ship veered of course, Harry could see the beloved face of his godfather, looking no older than Captain Joseph, and beaming at him.

"What fun this is, Harry!" He said in delight. But Harry could see, looming behind him, on top of the suddenly still water, a stone archway, unsupported, its opening covered by a torn and rippling veil. The ship was heading towards it, slowing quickly. He started forward with a warning cry, but Sirius just looked past him. "You must do what she cannot, Harry." He said calmly.

Harry did not want to look, he did not want to tear his eyes away from his godfather, he didn't want him to vanish the moment his back was turned, as he had before. But the dream compelled him and he twisted around. Behind him, as he had expected, he saw the blonde-haired woman, tears coursing down her face, holding her hand out to the man behind Harry. "Who is she, Sirius?" Harry asked. "Sirius?" He turned back around, knowing what he would see, but dreading it all the same. Again, Sirius was gone, and, sitting as though it were on solid ground, only the arch with the rippling veil remained. He raced forward, taking the steps four at a time, until he was stopped suddenly with an invisible force.

"Let me go!" He yelled.

"Harry," The voices murmured, "Not yet."

"No! Sirius, Sirius!" He screamed.

"Harry! Harry!" Someone was shaking him, but he tried to cling to the dream.

"No." He whimpered.

His bright green yes flew open, and he saw the concerned face of Professor Lupin hovering over him swim into focus. Harry sat up abruptly then buried his face in his hands, trying to control his gasping breaths. "What does it mean?" He wondered quietly. "What does he want me to do?"

"Who?" Lupin said sharply, "Voldemort?"

Harry shook his head miserably. "No," He said, hating the brokenness of his voice. "Sirius." Lupin grasped his shoulder suddenly.

"What do you mean?" He sounded strangled as well.

Harry looked around the cabin, noting that everyone else seemed to be asleep; most of the lamps were doused, apart from the one by his bed, whose light flickered over the worn face of his professor. He took a few more calming breaths, trying to gather his thoughts. "He's talked to me, in my dreams." Harry rumpled his hair, his face contorting before he could settle it until stillness. "Never a lot, but in the two dreams I've had he has said one thing the same, both times." He peered up at Lupin, who had perched on the side of his bunk and was watching him seriously. He nodded at Harry to go on. "He says, 'You must do what she cannot.' And then this blond woman appears behind me. Then when I turn around..." He had to gulp a couple times to clear his throat. "All that is there is the veil."

Lupin looked very concerned. "A blond woman, Harry?"

"Yeah, once I thought I saw her when I was awake, but now I think I was just seeing things."

His professor made a small non-committal noise. He seemed to be thinking very hard. "It's too bad your Occlumency lessons did not turn out as well as we would have hoped. Durry should provide you with some protection." He glanced at the small creature with some concern, and Harry noticed that Durry was breathing rather heavily, and his fur was once again gray. Lupin picked the small chrono up and held it carefully. He felt his pulse and his nose, and when Durry sleepily opened his eyes, he checked them too.

"Is he okay, Professor?" Harry inquired anxiously.

"He's just tired, Harry." Professor Lupin assured him, resettling the little creature next to Harry's pillow. "He must have been quite busy tonight." He said with a significant glance at the young man.

"What exactly do they do?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

"It's really impossible to say, precisely." He admitted, "Each chrono is unique in its reactions to its owner. Most people have normal nightmares..."

"And I don't." Harry continued heavily.

"No, you do not. And I suppose that he just has to work a little harder, and find a different way to protect you." He sighed, rubbing at his eyes wearily. "If I were even a mediocre occlumens I could help you. But as I am not..." He stood up, clasping Harry on the shoulder. "Just try and do what Professor Snape told you to every night before you go to bed, Harry. I know you don't like him, but he is rather brilliant." He smiled at the disbelieving look on Harry's face, and, after a final, comforting squeeze to his shoulder, moved off into the darkness to find his bunk.

Harry lay awake, staring out of his bunk and to the window, which was showing sky, now water, now sky again. Okay, that was not a very good idea. Harry groaned and rolled over, placing his hand, the one that bore the Cord bracelet, on Durry. He didn't think he would sleep again for quite some time, but, as Durry began to purr again, and he heard the sleeping sounds of his roommates, he once again drifted off.

He stood at helm, twirling it and laughing as the salted breeze tossed his messy hair away from his face. Sirius was standing at his side, a smile on his face, his hand on Harry's shoulder, his finger pointing the way. They were heading off to parts unknown, behind the sunrise and through the craters of the moon, the golden sails of their ship catching the stars as he voyaged far, far away.

Harry woke up, for the first time in a very long time, with a smile.

I know this one is kind of short, but, I thought this would be a good place to end it. Please, please, please, read and review.