A/N: I know, I'm a little late, and I have no excuse, but I updated finally, at least. And i'll warn you now, I dont know when I'll post next, because we're gonna have relatives over this week and for a while because of Thanksgiving. I'll try to make the next chapter long, then.

Oh, and P.S, to whoever asked, Blaise is no longer with the pirates. Not since he married Ginny.

Happy reading, and don't forget to review, please!

Lots of love, tastetherain.


Chapter 8: Perspectives

Saturday, May 16- Hermione- Pirate ship

"Uh…" Hermione twiddled her fingers together, suddenly shy and nervous. She was conscious of his eyes on her.

"What?" He urged her, impatiently. And, that sent her into another bat of awkwardness. It was so sudden. Why should she be so afraid? She hadn't been before. At, least, though, she wasn't blushing. That would have been the epiphany of embarrassing.

"I was just wondering…" Hermione forced herself to stare back at him, and hold her hands firmly at their separate sides. "… Do you love Pansy?" There. She got it out. It wasn't a very pressing question, but it had been gnawing at her all night. It hadn't let her sleep.

All the talk about Blaise and Ginny, and love. It had her thinking, which might not have been a good thing, unfortunately…

"What?" Draco had a defensive, incredulous look on his face. As if he thought he heard right, but didn't think it possible. Not that she could blame him of course. This was personal business, and she had no place in it, especially since she'd only known him for a couple of days, and only spoken a handful of words to him.

Dear Lord, thought Hermione. He's gonna make me see it again. She took a cautious step away, and started to fidget more. "I said… do you love Pansy?" It took all the rest of her willpower to keep her gaze focused on him. Somehow, asking him didn't seem like such a great idea anymore.

After a couple of minutes (it seemed like days) of him not responding, Hermione gave up, almost gratefully. "Yeah, sorry, I had no-"

"Why?" Draco asked, cutting her off. He was eyeing her uneasily, daring her to turn tail and run now. Well, she never liked to back down from a challenge, so why now?

Neither backing away, nor moving closer, had Hermione had an answer in mind. "The crew says that you two are together. And, Pansy certainly acts like you two are together. But… it doesn't look like…" Wow, this is amazingly uncomfortable, Hermione told herself.

"Doesn't look like what?" asked Draco, standing up, almost threateningly. She moved her gaze around, now knowing that this wasn't a good idea.

"Like… love" There, she told the truth at least, and answer or no answer, her mind should be at least partly settled.

They both stood still, looking at each other. You had to really look carefully to realize that Draco was surprised, astonished, more like. Then… he started to laugh. It was the strangest thing. He was laughing. Maybe not loudly, but he seemed genuinely humored.

He put his hand up to ruffle back his hair, an action that nudged at the back of Hermione's memory. She tossed it aside and glared at him, hands purposefully on hips. "What's so funny? I don't think this is funny. I've heard that you two might be getting married. What are you laughing about?" She persisted as he refused to stop.

Suddenly, he did, though. The laughing died down, but there was still a grin on his face. "You're serious aren't you?" He asked her.

She stood her ground, and lifted her head higher. "Yes, I am. Now, will you tell me what's so funny?" Draco just shook his head at her, and sat down.

"You're funny. I mean, I expected more from you." He leaned back comfortably, not bothering to look at her anymore, but instead, off into the sky. "I thought you were smarted than that."

"What do you mean?" Her hand dropped from their position on her hips.

"Of course I don't love her. Did you really think it was possible that I could?"

"Well…" Hermione tried searching for a viable reason, but found none.

"Well, what? Huh? I hate to tell you, Granger, but this isn't a fairy story. People don't always marry for love, and I'm sure as hell not some ditzy princess crying over the fact that I have no knight in shining armor." His grin grew wider at the shocked expression on her face. When she said nothing, he turned his gaze away from her and back up to the sky. She didn't seem to remember when he'd switched to look at her.

"Well, you may not be a ditzy princess, but that doesn't explain why you have to marry Pansy. You still have a choice, don't you?" She didn't know where it came from, but all the same, it sounded like a good argument to her. He didn't answer her.

Hermione turned her head away and bit her lip. It shouldn't really be funny. She really shouldn't laugh. But, then again she just couldn't help it, and a stream of giggles escaped her lips. She tried to put her hands to her mouth to stop them, but it was too late.

"Now, what are you laughing at?" He leaned forward, staring up at her. Hermione shrugged, and leaned against the helm, hoping he would leave it at that.

He didn't. He was staring at her expectantly.

She had tried, she really had, but the stupidest thing struck her as hilarious then. "It was just that… when, when you said that… that thing before." She tried now to stop herself, but her mouth didn't want to obey. "I had this really funny picture of you… as a princess… in a puffy pink dress…"

She held her hand to her mouth again. It's not funny, she told herself, but apparently her body wasn't listening to rational thought. Hermione looked over to Draco, and to her amusement, found him grinning broadly. "I'm not sure pink is my color." He told her, which sent her into another fit of giggles. Well, maybe not giggles, but not all out laughter either.

She lifted herself to sit on the wooden square of the helm.

An hour later, they were still talking. Hermione was surprised how easily she could talk to him. It was amazing, but it was almost like melting off his outer layer, and being able to finally see the man inside.

He was still a little rude and tended to insult her often, but he was also very funny, and smart, too. Before she knew it, she was falling, in love? Maybe not, but somewhere tucked inside her, she knew it was possible.


Saturday, May 16- Montague- Pirate ship

Now, Montague wasn't usually one for snooping. He knew what privacy was, and he wholeheartedly respected it. But how could he not be curious? For the past hour, the captain and Hermione had been talking to each other.

They were on the upper deck. Draco lounged on one of the barrels, and Hermione sat cross-legged on the small wooden square that held the steering wheel (helm). It wasn't easy to hear what they said from up against the wall of the lower deck. Montague pretended to be only enjoying the shade, but even he doubted anyone was fooled.

At least the two he was eavesdropping on hadn't a clue. Montague smiled mischievously. Things were going well. Well enough to let his plan work, even if not up to the high expectations he had begun with. The pair was fast becoming friends, and even without any love, a new friendship but also be just the trick to pull Draco from the melancholy that engulfed him.

"That's not true!" cried Hermione, in mock offense. Behind her words you could hear the laughter. Faintly, Montague heard a chuckle from his old friend. Things were going almost too well. It was about a week until they docked, and if the paced stayed steady, with as little interference from Pansy as possible, the crew would have their old captain back in no time at all.

Montague carefully detached himself from the wall and made his way to the other side of the deck. It was scathingly hot outside (unfortunately that usually preceded storms), so most of the crew was down in the ship's cabins, lolling around. The brave, or tolerant few, were spread out in the shade. It was relatively quiet, save for a couple exclamations and hearty laughs from where he had just left.

It almost wasn't fair that they were getting to know each other, and connecting, when he was miles away from his love. Ah, well, he would se her again, soon enough.

It was amazing, though, how soon the couple had connected. It was almost immediate. A question, an argument, and then just good-humored chatter. A miracle, maybe. But, either way it served his purposes, and he was now one step closer to the man he used to know so well.


Saturday, May 16- Pansy- Pirate ship

Pansy seethed inside, and let a hiss escape through her clenched teeth. That thing was talking to her Draco! She had his attention, and she'd put a smile to his lips. Pansy had to turn away and walk back to the dark calm of her private cabin room.

She was all OVER him! Pansy screamed in her mind. And even worse, he wasn't objecting to ANY of it. She wanted to just stomp right over there and strangle the little mouse. But, that wouldn't solve anything. Even if she tried to convince Draco that she wasn't to be trusted, or talked to at all, that would only make matters worse. He would go against any advice she threw at him, just for the reason that he could.

Pansy didn't fool herself into believing that he loved her. That he cared about her at all. He despised her just as much… Just as much as… He probably hated her just as much as she loved him.

Well, maybe it was love, maybe it wasn't. But, surely, she felt something for him. Well, not all of him. His softer side, the one that this girl was trying to pry out of him, that wasn't the man she loved. It was the one filled with anger hate and loneliness. It was when he was utterly helpless, but acted like steel on the outside. That was when she loved him.

And this girl was threatening to break all the progress she had made in turning Draco more into what she wanted. What she felt she needed from him.

And, not to mention all the money she would come into if he married her. The man was weak, and could be manipulated. He acted tough and brutal, and in control of things on the outside. But, inside, he was nothing but a baby. A man she could force and bend to her will without anyone the wiser.

It was perfect. It was a plan. And this girl was invading it with her frizzy hair, and guffaw of a laugh. It wasn't fair. There had to be something she could do. Something to get the brat off her hands. Pansy Parkinson had never been able to admit defeat easily, and if the laughter outside continued the way it was; failure would only be a few days away.

Pansy sat heavily on the bed and slitted her eyes as she thought long and hard. Outside, even through the door, she could hear murmurs of talk from outside. It mocked her.

Think. Think. Think. There had to be something…


Saturday, May 16- Draco- Pirate ship

Draco paced back and forth through the shadows that spread themselves across his cabin floor. He repeatedly ran his hands through his hair, and contemplated the conversation he'd shared with Hermione not too long ago.

It was frustrating, annoying, and he didn't understand a bit of it. And, he hated when he didn't understand something. Draco stopped for a moment and glanced out the window. Who is that girl? What does she have, or what did she do to make me this way? I haven't talked to anyone like that for months, maybe a year.

Draco shook his head and continued pacing. Draco had been talking to Hermione for almost two hours. And that whole time, all he could think about was her laugh, her smile, her eyes. He could only imagine what Montague would have said if he'd known.

But he'd be wrong. Draco didn't believe in love. He didn't think it solved anything, or changed anything. Love was a luxury no one should care to afford. No should care to have. It was merely an inconvenience.

Not that that mattered, though. He wasn't in love. He'd made sure he never could be. And for another thing, if he were ever to be in love, it would be with someone more like Pansy, not Hermione. She was nothing like him!

Hermione was the daughter of a merchant. She was the friend of guard shipmen. She lived by the rules; the law. She doesn't know anything about him. And he doesn't know anything about her. There was more than a wall dividing them. So much more.

Why am I thinking about this? It doesn't matter. She'll be gone in a week, and in another month, I'll marry Pansy. That last thought made Draco stop pacing again. He sat wearily on the edge of his bed.

Marry Pansy. Pansy? It hurt just to think about it. He didn't believe in love, and especially marrying for love, but… Every time he had to think about Pansy, he cringed inside himself. He felt like throwing up.

Draco felt like screaming. It was so frustrating. Everything felt like it was going wrong, and in truth it had been going wrong for a long time. But he hadn't felt it so much 'til now.

Draco held his head in his hands, and tried to fend off the wolves of thoughts that attacked his mind. For a moment it seemed to work, like meditation, but then…

Her eyes…

Draco stood up quickly and only barely caught himself from screaming. What the hell is wrong with me? Why does she now haunt my thoughts?

Draco fell backwards across his cot of a bed and sighed. Whatever it was, he would try to rid himself of it. And in doing that he would continue to talk with the girl, just to prove he could handle himself.

But, something in him told him that it would be harder to forget Hermione that he currently made himself believe.

Too hard, maybe…