DISCLAIMER: I'm not gonna bother including one for this chapter when there's already one on the first chapter. Things haven't changed since then. I still don't own the rights to anything you may recognize from any of the Harry Potter books, and I probably never will!
A year passed, and Harry and Ron still hadn't received any letters from Hermione since the first one she sent. After a few months with no word from Hermione, they simply thought that she was too busy. A few more months, and they thought maybe the owls were having trouble flying all the way from the pirate colony in the Bermuda Triangle to England. But when a year had passed, and there wasn't even a reply to the letters they sent her, Harry and Ron started to get worried.
"It's not like her to avoid contact with us for so long," Ron said one day at work after Harry had informed him that he still hadn't heard from Hermione. "She would send us loads of letters over the summer holidays when we were still in school, why would she stop now?"
"Like I said earlier," Harry replied, "maybe the owls are having trouble getting here." He kept insisting that this was the case not just to assure Ron that Hermione was ok, but more to assure himself. Harry had been getting more worried as the days passed. He had pinned her pirate picture to the wall of his cubicle, and every time he looked at it he would be filled with hope that she was still alive. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that Hermione was ok, he couldn't help feeling even more worried.
As Harry and Ron sat there with nothing to say at the moment, Neville came up to them. "Harry, Ron," he said, "The commander wants to have a word with both of you."
"Really?" Harry asked, "What for?"
"I don't know," Neville replied, "but I think it might be about Hermione." As he said this, Harry and Ron both got up and quickly reported to the commander's office.
As Harry and Ron stood outside the commander's open door, waiting to be asked to come in, the commander looked up from his papers and said "Come in, boys, and close the door behind you." Harry entered, followed by Ron who closed the door. Both remained standing, slightly at attention, in the presence of their boss. "Well sit down!" the commander ordered. Both of them sat down.
"Sir," Harry said, addressing the commander, "have you found out anything about Hermione yet?" After a year had passed with no word from Hermione, Harry and Ron had gone to the commander to ask if he could find out if anything had happened to her. He told them he would send an owl to the base over there and ask about her. The commander needed to send an owl anyway, because he hadn't been receiving monthly progress reports on the mission like he had instructed them to do.
"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, Potter," the commander replied, his usually tough, serious expression softening into one of worry and concern. Not wanting to show any weakness, he stood up and turned to look out the window as he spoke to Harry and Ron, so they could only see his back.
"I have received a reply from my men," he said, "None of them has seen or heard from Capt. Granger for the past year. She left the base shortly after completing her undercover pirate training so she could start her mission, and no one has seen her since then. I told her to keep in contact with the base so they could send me a report of her progress, but she hasn't. And it's not like her to disobey a direct order like that." He turned to face Harry and Ron, his expression much more serious now. "I have, however, received some reports that Death Eater activity is on the rise, so she's obviously not doing her job. And it's not like her to neglect her duties, unless she's in a position where she cannot complete her objectives."
"So she's in trouble?" Harry asked, sounding worried.
"It's quite possible," the commander replied, "She's one of the best Aurors we have here. In fact, I was considering giving her a promotion when she returned. However, things seem to be taking a turn for the worst over there. Since we have not heard from her and it seems that the mission's not being completed, we have no choice but to assume that she has indeed gone missing in action. And if we cannot at least locate her, we might have to abort the mission."
"What!" Ron exclaimed, "We can't let this happen to Hermione! She's our best friend!"
"You will send someone to look for her, won't you, sir?" Harry asked.
"Funny you should ask that, Potter," the commander replied with a small grin, "because I'm sending you and Weasley to do just that."
"What!" Ron exclaimed again.
"You heard me, Weasley," the commander snapped. He sat down, pulled out two mission briefings, and handed them to Harry and Ron. "You two will be sent to the Bermuda Triangle to find out what happened to Capt. Granger," he explained, "You will both be undercover as pirates as well. When you find out what happened, send an owl to me. And, although I still don't approve of this, help her finish the mission if she's still alive. If not, return here and I'll see about sending someone else on this mission."
"Why not let us handle the mission ourselves?" Ron asked.
"Because you're not ready to handle a mission like this on your own," the commander explained, "In all of your missions, you both seem to rely on Capt. Granger to come up with strategies. I've yet to see either of you handle big missions on your own because you always insist on having Granger come with you to help. If she's dead, you won't have anyone to guide you."
"But we would work harder this time because we'd be avenging her death!" Ron said.
"Do not question my decisions, Weasley," the commander growled. He stood up again, and slowly walked around his desk and over to Ron. He put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "You want to find her alive, right?" he asked, "Is that what you're hoping for?"
"Yes, sir," Ron replied.
"THEN WHY ARE YOU ARGUING ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF SHE'S DEAD!" the commander shouted in Ron's ear. Ron flinched, and the commander stood upright again. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it!" he said, "For now, just focus on finding her, alright?"
"Yes, sir," Ron said again.
"Good," the commander grinned, returning to his desk and sitting down again. "You will report to the same dock that Capt. Granger left from tomorrow. My men will brief you during the voyage and give you a very quick lesson in going undercover as a pirate. If Granger's in trouble, we can't waste any time by having you take the full training course at our base there. You have the rest of today off so you can get ready. You know, say goodbye to friends and family, pack, and all that other stuff. And I suggest you pack lightly because your mission starts the moment you disembark from the ship when it arrives at the colony, so you won't have time to deal with luggage. Any questions?"
"No sir," Harry and Ron replied in unison.
"Good, then you're dismissed," the commander said, returning to his paperwork. Harry and Ron got up and left the room to get their stuff from their cubicles.
Once they got their stuff together, Ron turned to Harry and said "Well, we'd better get going, mate."
"Hang on," Harry said, "I need to get something else." He removed the picture of Hermione dressed as a pirate from the wall of his cubicle and put it in his bag.
"Why are you bringing that?" Ron asked.
"So we can identify Hermione if we see her," Harry quickly replied.
"Harry, do you REALLY think we won't be able to recognize our own friend?" Ron asked as though what Harry said was a joke, "I mean, after all those years we've been together?"
"You never know," Harry replied, "She IS undercover, after all…"
"Oh all right," Ron groaned, "Let's just go now, ok?"
"Ok," Harry said. The two of them left the office, said goodbye, and went to their own homes so they could pack. As Harry was packing, he pulled out the picture and looked at it for a while, thinking about all the good times they'd had together, and hoping Hermione was indeed safe.
Hang on, Hermione, Harry thought as he put the picture away and got in bed, We're coming.
