A/N: I am sure that many of you thought I was either dead or had abandoned this story. I truly apologize for it taking so long to update. I just was never able to find the time to get the chapter together, despite my good intentions. I wish I could promise that the wait was worth it . . . . Well, I think it turned out very cute. There will be two or three more chapters probably, and hopefully it won't take me as long to update next time.

Chapter 4
Encounter with Pirates

The wait in line for Pirates of the Carribean was long, but it moved quickly and George managed to keep Cassie's mind off it for the most part. For one thing, he was a keen observer of people and he kept her entertained with made-up background stories of various people ahead of them in line. Cassie had to bite her lip a few times at a particularly funny comment. There was a little bit of light snogging and a lot of laughing. As she stood there in the warmth of the Florida sun, Cassie was grateful that her new husband had such a great sense of humor. It was one of the things she loved most about him. One of many.

At one point, the kissing started to get a bit more intense and she had a feeling that George was going to demand they go back to the hotel room. She was trying to decide what to say if he asked but he looked up from kissing her and groaned. "We're almost to the front now. This hasn't been so bad." Cassie smiled into his shirt, resting her face against his chest, listening to the now-rapid beat of his heart.

"No, it hasn't. You're very good at distracting me."

He bent close to her ear and his breath was warm. "As soon as we're done with this ride, we're going back to our room. Then we'll both get distracted."

"You promised me lunch." She was only half kidding because her stomach was empty enough that she thought it wouldn't be too long before it started growling, which could be a bit embarrassing.

"Well, we can get room service, or eat downstairs – later." Cassie flushed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"All right. That's a deal." They stood silently for a few minutes, just enjoying being together with no worries in the world other than how long the line was and what they were going to have for lunch. Finally, the two of them entered the cool darkness of the actual ride and then George groaned again as he realized there was even more of a line in there.

"I hope this is worth it. We've already been waiting more than ½ hour."

"What are you upset about? We don't have anything better to do." She said this laughingly, wanting to provoke a reaction and the low growl of frustration in his throat was just what she was hoping for. She smiled and then wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe to get herself high enough. "Just teasing you, darling. Apparently, waiting in lines is par for the course for these parks. But next time we come back, it won't be so bad."

"How do you figure that?"

"I'll explain another day. Come on. The line's moving and the people behind us are wondering what we're doing."

"I'm sure they've all seen kissing before." He glanced back at the people behind them. "See, there are lots of people snogging in line." It was true, there were quite a few teenaged couples wrapped around each other, but "lots of people" was probably a bit of an exaggeration from what Cassie could tell. Then one girl winked quite boldly at him and Cassie turned him back toward the front, throwing a disgusted look over her shoulder at the brazen hussy. George either didn't notice or chose to ignore it because his attention was instead focusing on what was going on nearer to the ride itself. "Do we get in boats?"

"Looks like it. And that makes sense since the ride is about pirates and all." She thought he might ask her about pirates and started running through some possible explanations in her mind. However, he never did ask so she shrugged and kept her mouth closed. She was sometimes very surprised about what he knew about the Muggle world and other times very surprised about what he didn't. Her policy (well, so far in the two years she had known him) basically was that when he asked, she explained. She had given up assuming. He sometimes thought she was patronizing him if she started to explain something he already knew.

It was probably another 10 or 15 minutes before they got to the area where they could actually be loaded into the large flat boats. George looked rather doubtfully at the boats being loaded and glanced at the group, now slightly separated from the rest of the line, that would be riding in it with them. However, he didn't say anything until the boat that they were actually going to be getting in pulled up to the side and stopped. "Is this boat going to be able to stay afloat with all these people in it?"

"Of course it is. I don't think it would be a very popular ride if the boats sank and dumped the visitors into the water."

"Yeah, I agree but . . . Some of these people look a bit . . . heavy." Cassie couldn't decide whether to laugh or flush bright red in case someone had heard him. She coughed to cover her embarrassment and then tugged on his arm.

"George, come on. Everyone's waiting for us. Let's get in." It was true. Cassie could feel everyone's eyes on them. "What is the problem, exactly?"

He leaned close to her again. "They're not using magic to help hold the boats up."

"Oh for-"

The girl helping the various people get into the boat was starting to get anxious at the delay. "The water's not deep, sir. If you're frightened and all. You could stand up in the water if you needed to."

"I'm not frightened . . . " That seemed to be the final straw and he finally stepped onto the boat, which rocked slightly. He held out his hand to help Cassie in and then the both settled down on the narrow bench. He smiled wanly at the man sitting next to him and got a small smile in return. The attendant, seeing them finally seated, pushed a button perhaps harder than she should have and the boat took off with a slight jerk. George grunted as they leaned back with the movement and he grabbed Cassie's hand tightly. The boat meandered slowly through what appeared to be a swamp in a river of dark water and Cassie thought that if this was all there was to the ride, they had made a big mistake. She glanced over at George, studying his expression. He looked more relaxed now that the boat was moving and had not sunk yet. She leaned over and peered into the water. It was dark and kind of gross-looking but underneath the surface she could see the rails that kept the boats moving along. Before she could really share her observations with George, however, they had slipped down a small but steep waterfall and she felt a fine mist settle on her skin as her eyes adjusted to the dark. They passed under a talking skull and found themselves in a whole new place.

To say that they were entranced is an understatement. The ride was fun, exciting, and in general, just amazing. Cassie couldn't look around fast enough or look at things long enough to see everything she wanted to. George was the same. She knew this because as they were both swiveling their heads around quickly to look somewhere else, they would sometimes catch each other's eye. They laughingly pointed out various amusing things to each other as they passed from room to room. It went on and on, each scene in the "story" just more and more fun. Finally, they were in a dark room with two boats shooting cannonballs at each other. Cassie went to grab George's hand as one of the "cannonballs" landed close to their boat and rocked it. However, she couldn't because he was holding his wand in the hand next to her. She looked at him with a question in her eyes but then was distracted by the ride again and by the time they disembarked a few minutes later, he had tucked the wand away.

She wanted to ask him what he had been doing with his wand out but he looked so innocently sweet that she almost felt guilty for suspecting him of anything. She decided against asking him at all. They held hands as they exited back into the bright sunlight and George started raving about the ride. "That was great! I loved it! That must be the best ride in the whole park!"

"It was very nice, wasn't it? I'm glad we went!" They hugged and George led her around to the back of the line.

"Let's go again!"

"Again? But I thought-"

"Lunch can wait."

Cassie didn't know how to react. She was really hungry, but she was pleased he had had such a good time. This was the first moment since they had walked through the gates that morning that he seemed to be genuinely enthused about something. Yes, he had enjoyed the Haunted Mansion but had seemed to be observing the ride with the view of a critic trying to find something to amuse him. This ride, on the other hand, he seemed to experience with a simple pleasure that didn't ask for anything else. Cassie grinned and reconciled herself with standing in line again. They held hands for a few minutes but George was bouncing on the balls of his feet in that way he had when he was agitated about something. "I really do not think I can handle waiting in line again."

"If you want to go on the ride again, we have to wait."

"I've got an idea." He winked at her. "Join me in a minute and go along with whatever I say."

"But what are you –" She wasn't able to finish her question before he disappeared from her line of sight. Cassie considered her options. She could ignore him completely and wait. He would eventually come back and find her, she imagined. But that seemed sort of rude. And she was kind of curious what he was going to do. She just hoped it wasn't something . . . too . . . magical. She had no doubt whatsoever that he had something in mind that she probably shouldn't really approve of. However, she refused to be thrust into a role as his mother, supervising his every action and calling him on the carpet if he used magic in a slightly inappropriate way. After all, she had married him and loved him just the way he was and the way he was, was just a little bit mischievous. So, with that thought in her mind she smiled at the people behind her in line and started in the direction he had gone, trying to look nonchalant. She had walked quite a way and was almost to the front of the line and was just about to turn back, certain she had missed him somewhere, when she saw George standing in line and he waved to her.

"Over here, darling. I'm glad you found me. I was starting to worry you had gotten lost." Cassie just shook her head, unsure what was expected of her.

"No, you were just further ahead than I really expected." She looked rather suspiciously at him and he grinned at her.

"You were a long time in the loo, weren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"I was telling this fine gentleman here that every time we get in a long line, you find a convenient excuse to leave me standing by myself while you get to wander around. But I don't mind." George waved his hand vaguely at the man behind them in line who smiled at the two of them and then turned back to his son, who was trying to tell him something.

"Sorry I've been such a bad line partner." She raised a questioning eyebrow but he had that exceedingly innocent look on his face again and she didn't press the issue.

"That's okay. I don't mind." He bent very close to her ear and spoke softly. "A simple memory charm and they're sure I've been here the entire time."

"You're a sneaky little devil, aren't you?" She had to chuckle at his deviousness.

"Yes. But I'm a sneaky little devil who is almost at the beginning of the line." He looked worriedly at her. "Are you angry with me?" She shook her head and laced her fingers through his.

"I love you, George."

"I love you, too, Cassie." A few minutes later they were up to the front of the line again and by bad luck happened to be ushered onto the boat by the same girl who had helped them earlier. She did a double take when she saw them and checked her wristwatch discreetly. George just smiled in a very friendly way and she didn't ask any questions. At least this time George got onto the boat quickly and without a fuss. Cassie tried to look at everything she had missed the first time and was having a really enjoyable ride. They were almost to the end of the ride when she figured out why he had wanted to come through once again.

"Look up at that scene, Cassie. Remind you of anyone?" She glanced up there and did a double take, then looked away and back again. She couldn't help it; she started laughing and had to actually bite the palm of her hand to keep from getting hysterical. The scene was funny enough as it was, anyway. The general idea was that the pirates were auctioning off the town's lovely ladies as brides to each other, undoubtedly (although this was certainly not described) for a night of debauchery with the poor dears. All of the women looked tearful and shocked, except for one rather portly one. She, apparently thrilled at the chance to get married, had started chasing a very skinny pirate around trying to convince him that she was the perfect woman for him. Cassie had noticed it before and had chuckled. But this time, the woman had her face and the poor skinny future husband looked remarkably like George.

"When did you . . . what did you . . . can everyone . . . Oh, that's very funny."

"I didn't do anything. I don't know what you are talking about." He grinned widely as he said this and Cassie shook her head, knowing that there was no point arguing about it. She continued to watch the scene for a while longer, hoping no one else noticed the rather remarkable resemblance between the eager bride and the passenger on their boat. That would be rather hard to explain to say the least. As they left that particular room behind them, George pulled his wand out of his pocket and as they passed through the dark into the next scene, he pointed it behind him and murmured "Finite incantatum."

"Any more little surprises for me in this scene?"

"Maybe one or two." She grinned and looked with careful attention at the faces of the remaining pirates as they passed. She saw Professor Snape's face (and long, greasy hair) on one of the poor townspeople who was being dunked in a barrel repeatedly and thought that one of the pirates looked remarkably like Harry. She didn't see anyone else familiar, though, and then the ride was over. "What did you think of my artistry?" He asked as he helped her out of the boat.

"I think you have a lot of talent. Maybe you should consider doing pranks as a career. That is assuming your chosen field of being an accountant doesn't work out."

He laughed but then stopped and asked her, "What's an accountant?" That made her laugh really hard and she actually had to stop and try to catch her breath.

As they exited the ride, she looked around and consulted her map, trying to get oriented so that they could find the restaurant where they had eaten dinner the night before. George was also looking around, but not with the same purpose. "Oh, look, Cass! It's a jungle cruise. And there's almost no line. Let's go on that!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know! But it looks fun. And we get to ride another boat."

"And this is a plus? I practically had to force you to get on the one in the Pirates ride."

George had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Sorry about that. It was a small boat. Come on, let's go at least look."

"I'm starving. You need to feed me at some point." She glanced at her watch. "It's after 1. Please can't we -"

"There's a snack stand. We'll get something there." They wound up eating something called a chili dog standing up next to a rubbish bin. The chili dog was okay, although she was pretty sure she wouldn't be cooking it any time in the near future back home, but the entire ambiance was a far cry from the relaxing sit-down lunch she had imagined. However, she didn't complain. George was having a good time and that was really the important thing, in her opinion. He was still hungry, so he got another hot dog and a drink for the two of them to share while she read in her brochure about the ride. It sounded sort of silly, but George had been right about there being no line so why not. It wouldn't take very long to ride it, and maybe it would be more enjoyable than you could really tell from the brochure.

"Just promise me one thing, George." She said a few minutes later as they prepared to board the large boat. He stepped down over the seat and onto the floor, then reached out his hand to hers to help her in.

"Anything, love. What?"

"I won't look over and find any hippopotami wearing my face. I'm quite sure that at that point, I would have to be insulted." He laughed and she joined in.

About a half hour later, he helped her out of the boat and she couldn't decide whether to slug him or hug him. He was adorable, in a sort of troubling way. Their "jungle guide" got out of the boat right after her and walked with decidedly shaky knees over to another person dressed in a similar costume. Cassie pretended her trainer had come untied and bent over to tie it so that she could overhear their conversation.

"I think you've been out in the sun a bit too long. Either that or you've been drinking."

"I have not been drinking! But maybe I have been out in the sun too long. I don't know. All I can say is that scared me. On a deep primal level or something." Their river guide sat down and put his head down between his knees. George was studying a map of the park, and Cassie scowled slightly. He was probably trying to decide where else he could go to cause havoc. Okay, well, maybe havoc was a bit strong of a word. She knew that the people on their boat had had the best ride of their lives. Okay, everyone had screamed a few times. They were supposed to. But . . . well not like that!

"Well, I suggest you take a rest. When you start to see the animals actually moving . . ."

"The elephant charged the boat, Bob. I mean seriously. Not just the mechanical thing it always does."

"Uh, huh. Sure it did." A definite skeptic here. Cassie could tell him a few things.

"I'm serious. It was close enough that I could reach out and touch it."

"So it was alive?"

"No! It was still metal . . . I don't know how to explain it. All I know is that I gave my little usual spiel about watching out for the elephants and suddenly . . . he charged the boat. Same thing happened with the hippos. They surrounded our boat and tried to swamp it. I really thought we were going over. Everyone was screaming . . . and someone threw up over the edge." Their guide stood up again and the two of them moved off. Cassie stood up and approached her husband.

"George-"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I know. You don't have to tell me."

"I thought the pirate thing was funny. But someone could have gotten hurt with this. And it wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Rampaging metal animals."

"I had everything under control. And you have to admit that it really livened up the ride."

"It's not going to always do that, is it? From here on out?"

"No. They were just temporary moving spells. I could, though-"

"No! I think that was enough. Really. Let's go back to the hotel."

"Aaah, Cassie. I'm sorry. I won't do that again. We'll do something fun and I promise I won't do anything." He looked at her with such pleading in his eyes that Cassie couldn't help but respond.

"I'll give you one more chance. I'm not your mother and I don't want to act like her –"

"No! Please! Don't even mention her."

"I love your mother."

"Well, so do I, of course. But that doesn't mean I want to be on my honeymoon with her."

"I see your point. Anyway, like I was saying. I don't want to be supervising you, but you need to take a bit of responsibility about not doing magic in front of Muggles and -"

"Cassie! We're at Disney World! Everyone expects there to be magic!"

"They expect that there will be mechanical magic. Not real magic. Behave yourself. I personally don't want to get an owl, or the American equivalent thereof, with a warning."

"Fine. I'll be better." She couldn't help it. She melted. He was so dang cute. She hugged him and let the familiar warm smell of him surround her, making her feel safe and loved.

"You're perfect just the way you are, you know."

"I've often suspected that to be the case, despite dire warnings to the contrary from various people." She laughed and they walked hand in hand toward whatever adventure awaited them next.