I'd like to thank Balthazar23, Antar23, werewolfXZ, damadape, TheNarratingMan, WraithNX01, Vahktang, flixus, Lynix, TripsToTheRescue, fredfred, InquisitorCOC for betareading.
Chapter 24: The Retreat
Algiers, Algeria, July 16th, 1996
"Ah. How much this city changes as soon as the sun sets!" Standing on the balcony of their room - their suite - Sirius Black took a deep breath of the cooling air outside. "The heat is almost bearable now!"
"Did you forget how to cast charms?" Peter asked from behind him.
"Of course I didn't!" Sirius replied, turning with a scoff to look at his friend, sat on the divan in the suite's salon. "It's the principle of the thing." And Padfoot couldn't cast spells even though his thick coat of fur was hell in this climate. The stray dogs they had seen probably didn't have the mange; they must have shed their fur voluntarily to battle the heat. "I taught Harry how to cast a Gentle Breeze, after all." Harry. His godson.
Sirius pressed his lips together and quickly strode towards the bar in the salon, filling a glass with what the hotel considered their best whisky. Which didn't come close to Firewhisky, of course, but you had to make amends for muggle hotels.
But it would be enough to take the edge off the reminder that his godson was missing for close to two weeks, without any notice.
Peter, as observant as ever, didn't comment but leaned back and looked at the sheets of parchment in his lap again. He wouldn't find anything new; he had been reading them for hours - ever since they had returned from Kateb's house.
Sirius finished his glass and sighed, then threw himself into the armchair facing Peter's divan with the kind of flamboyance his mother had hated. "I hate being stuck inside."
"Nothing keeps you from going outside," Peter replied without looking up.
"Other than the fact that I don't speak the language?" Sirius retorted, picking up a muggle magazine.
"You speak French."
"Magical Algiers doesn't speak French." It was a sports magazine. Since muggles didn't know about Quidditch, the only interesting parts were the pictures of the women in bikinis, and Sirius had seen better.
"You could've gone with William and Fleur," Peter pointed out.
Sirius scoffed. "You didn't. That means you don't think you could've been of use, and between us, you're the spy."
"You're the better duellist."
Well, of course Sirius was better in a fight - the Blacks had their reputation for a reason, after all, and that tradition wasn't amongst the parts that Sirius had dropped as soon as he had become the head of the family. "I am also not as good at spying and might endanger their disguise." They were posing as visitors from Egypt. Fleur might not speak Arabic as well as Bill, but as a woman, she wasn't expected to say much anyway in public. Unlike in private. Or something like that - Sirius didn't really understand those particular customs.
This time, Peter looked up with a surprised expression. "Self-awareness? Should I check for Polyjuice Potion?"
"Hahaha," Sirius retorted. "Don't give up your day job." That was an expression Harry had taught him. Sighing, he grabbed another glass.
"Don't drink too much; we still have dinner with another contact of William's," Peter told him.
Sirius glared at him but put the bottle down and grabbed a beer instead. "Let's hope this contact will be more useful," he spat between sips. Though Bill had said he didn't expect much.
"It's only been half a day; you can't expect Kateb to have found Harry and Miss Granger already."
"For the gold I paid him, I should expect results!" Sirius protested before sighing again. "I hate waiting."
"I think everyone who knows you knows that," Peter commented. He sounded a little testily himself, so he wasn't as stoic as he tried to appear, either.
Sirius grinned at that. It made his friend more… well, normal. He usually was such a 'cool customer', as Harry would say. The mysterious spy. The Wizard of Mystery. He sighed again, his brief amusement vanishing. "Do you think we'll find them?"
"Yes." Peter's response was a little too smooth. Too quick. And he wasn't looking at Sirius.
Damn.
"We've taught Harry well, haven't we? He should be able to… to handle everything," Sirius said.
"Within reason," Peter replied.
"And the girl's no slouch, either. She could keep up with Harry."
Peter didn't reply.
"What do you think?" Sirius asked.
Peter put the parchment down again. "Harry and Miss Granger get along with each other as well as we did with Snape," he said.
"That's different!" Sirius protested. "Snivellous was a Death Eater. This is just, well, a prank war."
Peter snorted. "Of course you'd think so."
Sirius frowned. What did his friend mean? This was a prank war. Nothing serious. Sirius should know - he had given Harry a number of ideas and some help for dealing with Harry's 'nemesis'.
All in good fun, of course.
Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 16th, 1996
Amir Saidi's home, which appeared to be roughly the same size as Kateb's from the outside, looked quite modest on the inside, Sirius Black found. No, not modest - understated. The entrance hall he, Peter, Bill and Fleur entered was scarcely decorated, but the sculpture and the two tapestries that graced it were of exquisite quality, and the ornaments on the pillars and walls were… actually hiding runes, he noticed. Clever.
"Bill! Fleur! Welcome to my humble home!"
And their host was greeting them in person - a corpulent wizard with a wide smile walked towards them, his arms spread wide while the servant that had opened the door - a young man - withdrew through a side door.
"Amir." Bill nodded at the man with an easy smile. "Thank you for having us."
"Bonsoir," Fleur said as she removed the cloak and veil she had been wearing outside. Her smile was a little more restrained, in Sirius's opinion. "These are our friends, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew," she added, gesturing towards them. "Sirius, Peter - Amir Saidi."
"Be welcome as well!" Saidi nodded at them, his smile not wavering. "Come, come, you must be hungry. My cook has prepared a feast!"
He led them through a courtyard full of exotic plants - and so humid, it must have been covered with spells - and into another sparsely but finely decorated room. There a long but low table covered with dozens of plates carrying mounds of food of all sorts was waiting for them.
Obviously, the man was quite less restrained when it came to his food compared to his home decor. Well, his girth should have made that obvious.
"Sit, sit! And enjoy the meal!" Saidi sat at the head of the table, with Peter and Sirius taking one side and Fleur and Bill the other.
Unlike Kateb, Saidi didn't have any guards that Sirius could spot.
They started eating - the food was excellent although a little too exotic for Sirius's taste - while Saidi and Bill chatted about their time in Egypt, with Fleur occasionally commenting as well. That left Sirius and Peter mostly to laugh when their host told a funny anecdote or made a joke. Not that Peter minded, of course.
Though once everyone had had their fill, Saidi leaned forward, his hands on his knees, and his smile grew a little more eager. "So, please tell me what made you - finally - accept my invitation, after you kept refusing for years!" He nodded at Fleur. "It must be important for you to brave my home country."
"We're looking for two kidnapped children," Bill said.
"And you come to me?" Saidi seemed honestly surprised.
"We came for Kateb," Bill explained. "And since we were already in the city…" He shrugged with a smile.
"Ah." The wizard nodded. "He is good at that filthy business, though he'll fleece you like an unbound Djinn."
"We know that," Bill said.
"He already did," Sirius added with a scoff. "Fortunately, I am quite well-off."
Saidi narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't be a member of those Blacks, would you?"
"I see our reputation precedes me," Sirius replied, smiling and showing his teeth. "I'm the head of the family."
The man's eyebrows rose as he turned towards Bill. "You're travelling in different circles, my friend. I didn't know you were so highly connected - unless one of your relatives managed to win Mr Black's heart." He smiled at Fleur.
Sirius laughed at that, though Bill shook his head. "We have mutual friends."
Saidi tilted his head to the side. "Then this isn't about a raid on the French coast, as I thought." His eyes widened. "Young Mr Potter's disappearance?"
"You've heard of it?" Fleur asked.
"It was in the newspapers. Although there was nothing about my shadier compatriots being involved."
"That only came out recently and isn't common knowledge," Bill said.
"But who would be so daring as to raid Britain?" Saidi shook his head. "Everyone knows not to provoke Dumbledore!"
"Ah, Albus is a nice man if you get to know him," Sirius said with a smile. "Very forgiving - unless you cross lines no decent wizard would ever cross, of course."
"Of course." Saidi's smile grew more than a little forced. "And you hope to solve this… affair… amiably?"
Sirius leaned forward. "We will solve this affair by doing whatever is necessary to get my godson and Miss Granger back."
"I see." Saidi nodded. "Then it would be prudent for me to lend you my assistance for this endeavour."
Now it was Bill and Fleur's turn to frown. "I didn't think you were involved with pirates," Bill said.
"I'm not. But we might have mutual friends. Friends who are as aware as I am that provoking the wizard who cowed the Ottomans into action is not a good idea if you like to keep your business, home and life." Saidi nodded. "So, please tell me what you know about this affair."
Unknown Island, July 16th, 1996
"You won't get us alive!" Harry Potter yelled through his Ventriloquism Spell, centred on a small cove a bit away. Through the hole the pirates had blasted into the jungle's canopy, forming a small clearing, he could just barely see a marker moving towards the cove.
Then the whole cove blew up. Harry gasped and threw himself to the ground. A moment later, the shockwave hit, blasting him further into the jungle, shattering his shield and engulfing everything around him in dust and smoke.
He rolled over the roots and stones and through the underbrush. Branches tore at his skin and clothes - he barely managed to protect his face and glasses - before he crashed into something that didn't give way.
He hissed at the pain in his side. How could…? Gritting his teeth, he looked around, coughing in the smoke and dust cloud. A tree trunk had stopped him. He was deeper in the jungle - his marker wouldn't be visible from above. Not in the smoke cloud, anyway. But that wouldn't stop the pirates from blasting the rest of the trees to splinters.
Unless they had taken the bait and thought that they had killed Harry and Hermione. Another explosion told him they hadn't been fooled. Or just wanted to make sure that they got them. He needed to get out. But if Hermione summoned him now, the pirates might spot him. He hoped she wouldn't do it anyway.
Damn. He couldn't see the pirates through the smoke and trees. There was only one thing he could do.
He gritted his teeth and got up. He recast his Shield Charm before pointing his wand at the next bunch of trees. "Incendio!"
More fires. More smoke. A Bubble-Head Charm let him breathe without coughing. His ribs still hurt each time he inhaled.
But it might make the pirates think that Harry and Hermione were dead. If he transfigured some wood into mice and enlarged them… no. Blood wouldn't last in the fire, and he would have to vanish the bodies to keep from giving the game away.
Another explosion, closer than he liked. Had they spotted him? It was pretty dark now, and with all the smoke…
The next explosion blew him off his feet, but his shield held - until he hit a rock. He recast the Shield Charm at once, then rolled around. Still inside the jungle, but…
...the pirates were opening the canopy, then casting at the ground now, toppling trees and razing the jungle. And they were closing in on him.
He took a deep breath. If he ran out of the jungle, sending curses at them, screaming about avenging Hermione… they might think she was dead. And if they killed him… They might not look for her. He licked his lips - the heat from the fires was telling. It could work. And it was better than getting blown up here. And…
He felt the tug at his trousers and gasped before he was pulled through the bush, towards the hill. No! Hermione was summoning him!
He twisted his body, looking around. If the pirates saw him… But everything was covered in smoke. And the sky was dark.
And he was flying towards a huge fire! Gasping, he managed to cast a Water-Making Spell, turning the stream of water on himself, then, at the last moment, on the fire in front of him.
The flames still burned. For a moment. Then he was through - and flying towards the hill. He clenched his teeth. This would hurt.
A second later, he hit the ground, and his breath was knocked out of him. He coughed as he felt hands grab him.
"Get inside!"
Hermione. He scrambled, kicking at the ground as she pulled him into a small hole. Cave.
"Hermione!"
"Shh!" she snapped. "I need to cover the entrance!"
He blinked, groaning with each breath, as she did something to the entrance, and, suddenly, it was dark. "I can't cast a Wand-Lighting Charm. They would notice," she said. "How badly are you hurt?"
"I'm fiugh," he spat as her hand brushed over his side.
"Ribs."
"YesARGH." He felt her poke him.
"Only one side. I think I can deal with that."
"You think?" He didn't laugh. That would hurt.
"I think I should let you die for the stunt you pulled! Sacrificing yourself, you bloody idiot!" she spat in a low voice.
"Shh! They might hear!"
"Not unless you scream," she retorted.
"You just said…" he started to object.
"Shut up!"
He heard her sob and he shut up.
Hermione Granger stifled. She couldn't cry. Not now. Not when Harry - the bloody idiot! - was hurt, and pirates were looking for them. Looking for them by burning down and blowing up the entire jungle!
She had to keep it together. She couldn't break down, or they were lost.
Shuddering, she took a deep breath. Her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, but she couldn't cast a Wand-Lighting Charm to see in the hole she had created. Not with a makeshift cover hiding the entrance that would let the light shine through.
Perhaps if she managed a very dim light… but she had never tried that. And this wasn't the moment to experiment.
"Hold still," she hissed when she felt Harry move. The idiot was hurt - probably broken ribs; bruised at the very least - and shouldn't move at all. Certainly not after being summoned and dragged through the jungle.
Dear Lord, he had to be hurt worse than she had thought! If a rib had pierced his lung… No, he would be coughing blood in that case, wouldn't he?
She couldn't tell. But his ribs hurt. Damn it. If she healed them like that… She bit her lower lip. Hard. First things first.
"Episkey!" she whispered, pointing her wand at him. Dealing with the cuts and lacerations wouldn't do harm. "Episkey! Episkey!"
"Thanks."
She pressed her lips together. "Can you breathe without… tasting blood?"
"Yes."
That had come quickly. But Harry wouldn't be lying to her, would he? "Then your ribs probably aren't buried in your lung," she said.
"I think I'd notice that."
She scoffed. "You probably wouldn't notice a missing arm until you tried to pick up your wand."
He chuckled at that, then groaned.
Served him right! She clenched her teeth. How could he have done this? Sacrificing himself - again! - without telling her?
"Can you heal broken bones?"
"I know the spell," she replied in a whisper.
"Never tried it?"
She pressed her lips together. "I never had the opportunity to practice it."
"Well, now you have the chance."
And without a teacher or Healer to correct her mistakes. If she did this wrong… she could cripple him. "I take it you don't know the spell, then?"
"Sirius taught me the spell, but Mum wouldn't let me practice it."
"On yourself?" she gasped.
"On animals."
"Oh." That was… if she conjured an animal, she could practice the spell. But without light, she wouldn't be able to check if she had cast it correctly. And to hurt animals, even conjured ones, like that...
"Just do it. I trust you."
She felt herself briefly smiling at that. "Alright." She took a deep breath and pointed her wand at him. This would need her complete focus. She couldn't afford any mistake - the consequences would be... She closed her eyes, took another deep breath and forced herself to relax her jaws.
"Brackium Emendo!"
Harry groaned again, and she felt as if her heart skipped a beat. Had she failed? Crippled him? Killed him? "Harry?"
"Ah… that feels good."
Relief filled her. Then annoyance. She should break his ribs again to worry her like this! Pressing her lips together, she probed his side with her free hand. "Does this hurt?"
"No, it doesn't."
"And this?" She pinched his side.
He hissed in return.
"Just testing if your nerves are working," she told him. It wasn't actually a lie. Theoretically, she could've just numbed his side instead of healing his ribs.
"Right." He didn't sound as if he believed her.
"I can't do anything about any burns you might have," she told him.
"I should be fine. I managed to cast a Water-Making Spell before you dragged me through the flames."
She glared at him, even though he couldn't see her face. That had been his idea! Although… "So, you mean wet yourself?"
He chuckled. "I guess I deserved that."
"Yes," she told him. "You do."
"Sorry."
She hesitated. She wanted to lay into him. The memory of seeing him disappear in the jungle - in the burning jungle… She clenched her teeth. "Don't do it again, or I'll kill you myself."
He chuckled again. "I won't."
"Good."
She felt him reach out, hugging her, and she returned the hug. It made her feel safe. Safer - the pirates were still out there. She could hear the distant sound of an explosion. But the way she had dug the cave, straight into a steep hillside, any Human-presence-revealing Spells the pirates cast wouldn't detect them - or, rather, the markers wouldn't be visible. For now, they were safe.
She slowly started to relax in his arms.
Though she didn't believe that he wouldn't pull such a suicidal stunt again. Not really. She was certain that he would try to sacrifice himself if he thought that it was the only way. That was how the idiot worked.
She would have to make sure that wouldn't happen. Even if she had to sacrifice herself.
Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996
Harry Potter had Hermione in his arms. And her hair in his face, tickling his nose. And smelling like smoke and ashes. Or that might be him - the Bubble-Head Charm was great to keep a stench out, but if you were stinking... He snorted. The leg she was mostly resting on was all pins and needles, but that was a small price to hold her, feel her breath, her heartbeat.
He was happier than he had felt in a long time. They were alive. The pirates hadn't found them. Hadn't killed them. Or caught them.
He twisted his neck, trying to get a good look at the entrance of the small cave Hermione had dug. It was still dark - no light shone through the small slits Hermione had left in the lid she had created for air circulation and to check their surroundings. Which meant the sun hadn't yet risen. Which meant they had to get up.
"Hey, Hermione," he whispered.
She didn't react. Didn't even shift or make some amusing noise. He shook her - gently. "Wake up, Hermione. We need to go."
This time, he felt her tense, then try to sit up, but he held her. "Shhh. The pirates might be outside," he whispered as he felt her go for her wand.
She stiffened, then relaxed a little. "Alright," she replied in a whisper, squirming in his arms until she was on her belly - and his tingling leg - and staring through the closest slit. "It's dark outside. I don't see flames or fire, but there's a sort of glow a little away."
He followed her example, rubbing his leg as he took a closer look himself. She was right. "The fire must have spread and burnt out here."
"Good. That means we can hide in the darkness."
Unless the pirates had found them and were just waiting for them to crawl out of their cave… no. They could've easily taken them in the cave - they would've been trapped. "Where are we going? To the southeast or towards the village?"
"Southeast is the obvious choice, so the pirates will expect us to head there. Unless they think we died."
"Best not count on being so lucky," he replied. "We might have exhausted our luck surviving yesterday."
"You surely did," she said.
He winced. She hadn't taken his plan well - but there hadn't been time to explain and discuss it. And Harry had had the best chances to make it out - Hermione had the experience for digging a hole and summoning him, and Harry had the combat experience. Well, the duelling and Quidditch experience. But it was better than nothing. Although Hermione had flown their improvised ride quite proficiently. Once they were home, he would have to encourage her to try out for the team. Although she probably would need some training with a real broom. He could give her some private lessons! Help her pick a decent broom - maybe buy her a used one as a gift, or ask Sirius...
Harry blinked. "The broom," he whispered.
"What? Did you spot a broom?" Hermione gasped.
"No. But I got one of the pirates. Made him crash. When he was chasing us," he explained.
"Oh."
She didn't get it. "He crashed, and his broom went down in the jungle. Close to nightfall. In the middle of our battle."
"Of the chase," she corrected him.
He ignored the remark. It had been a battle. "They must have recovered him. But they would've done so hastily, so they wouldn't risk getting cursed by us. And they will have taken him back to the village."
"Oh. You think they forgot the broom?"
"Yes." A real broom - and a decent one!
"Even if they did, it might've burned in the fires," she pointed out.
"Only one way to find out." He flashed a smile even though she wouldn't see it in the darkness and tried to imagine the broom he had caught a glimpse of during the battle. "Accio downed broom!"
He cast the spell as well as he could. He focused on the image of the broom. The broom that had to be out there - the pirates wouldn't have been able to recover it, not in the chaotic battle. And afterwards… no, it had to be there. Had to be in range. He closed his eyes and concentrated. On the broom. On the spell.
Hermione didn't say anything. Wouldn't distract him.
Was this a tug? Did his wand twitch? Did he have to recast the spell? The broom couldn't be too far - he had summoned things from further away. Like coconuts. Harry had…
Something hit the lid with a dull sound, and both of them gasped. "Something..." Hermione started to say.
"It's the broom!" he whispered. It had to be. That was how the charm worked.
"What if it's a trap?" she asked.
"Then we're done for anyway," he replied. "But we can't leave the broom outside."
He opened the lid.
And smiled at the broom lying just outside the cave. It looked a little singed, but it was still whole. Harry could almost feel the broom's desire to fly again. Properly now.
"Now we've got a broom!"
Hermione Granger smiled despite their situation. A real broom! With working enchantments - she wouldn't have to guide a levitated pole or plank through the jungle any more! With a broom, they would be faster and more mobile - even with two people on it.
"Up!" Harry held out his hand, and the broom jumped into it.
"We need to get away as long as it's still dark," she whispered.
"Yes. Do you think we can fly through the wards with this?" Harry asked.
She nodded. "The wards on the village? Unless they need an amulet to pass through the protections, yes. Otherwise, using brooms would be very impractical. They would have to land at a gate or similar rallying spot and enter through it. But the wards on the island?" She grimaced.
"Too easy for a prisoner to escape and steal a broom?" Harry asked.
She bit her lower lip. The pirates hadn't chased the escaped French witch. So they must have been confident that she wouldn't escape the island. Not by swimming or flying - if she was a Veela. Although… "Do we want to risk it?" It was an option. They might have enchanted the brooms to work like the fishing boats. And should anyone attack them, the ability to pass through the wards, back and forth, would be a great tactical advantage. But…
"As a last resort?" Harry looked grim as well.
She nodded. If it didn't work, then the protections on the island would probably be nasty. And even a Stunner would be dangerous, even fatal, if you fell from a great height into the sea. Or if your Bubble-Head Charm ended before you woke up… She shuddered at the thought.
Harry took a deep breath. "Let's go then. Southeast. The hill will help block their line of sight."
"Yes."
They scrambled out of the hole, and Hermione put the lid back up, concealing their makeshift hideout. Better not to leave obvious tracks and examples of their tactics.
"Mount!" Harry was already straddling the broom.
She climbed up behind him, wrapping her arms around him. And suppressed a sigh when she pressed herself into his warm back.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
And they were off. Despite being weighed down by two people, the broom sped up quickly - and it was faster than a Hogwarts school broom. Quite fast, Hermione noticed as Harry flew close to the ground.
"Watch out!" she hissed when she saw that they were flying straight towards a fallen, burned trunk.
"I've seen it," he hissed back - but he kept going straight towards the trunk.
She gasped when he, seemingly at the last moment, pulled up to go over the trunk, only to hug the ground again. "Do you have to fly so low?"
"Yes! Just in case they have someone higher in the air."
"Would they really fly too high to see a floating marker?" Hermione tightened her grip on Harry's waist.
"Never know - every little bit helps!"
That sounded like something Oliver Wood would say. Hermione clenched her teeth and managed not to yelp when Harry rolled the broom to the side to pass underneath a tree canopy that was resting on a broken stump of a tree.
Harry on a broom was a maniac.
Then again, facing an entire pirate crew, they needed every little bit of help that they could get.
Oh, dear Lord! She was starting to think like him!
At least no curses rained down on them - and, as she kept glancing around, she saw no markers from her own Human-presence-revealing Spell appear. "We should be in the clear," she whispered.
"Better safe than sorry," he replied. And kept going at a breakneck speed.
They were now leaving the burned and shredded parts of the jungle. "Don't go into the jungle!" she hissed. At this speed, and in the darkness, they would ram into a tree in no time.
"What do you think I am, crazy?" he replied.
"Yes?"
She felt more than she heard him chuckle as he hugged the jungle's edge, flying between trees, bushes and the hillside. Still no pirates in the air or on the ground. And they were putting the hill between them and the village now.
But the sun was also starting to rise.
"We need a shelter soon," she whispered.
"I know… hillside?"
She bit her lower lip. The same hideout as before? It had worked, but would it work twice? But the island wasn't small - what were the odds of the pirates finding them without tracks for the dogs to follow? The sections of the hill suitable for digging horizontally into weren't that common, though. Still… It was probably the best they could do. "Yes."
They flew a little longer, but as the sky started to get brighter and a reddish glow appeared in the east, they found a steep part of the hillside, and Hermione began at once to vanish the earth and stones to create another cave.
Harry kept an eye on the sky while she worked. "As I thought, the broom's been painted in camouflage."
And on the broom, it appeared. She almost scolded him but gritted her teeth instead. Harry should know what he was doing - he hadn't let them down yet. Unlike herself, a small, ugly voice in the back of her head added as she finished the cave and started to look for a lid.
"Oh, right." She sighed. "We need to get some coconuts for food, again."
Harry muttered a curse.
She nodded in agreement with the sentiment. She was heartily sick of the things. But needs must - they couldn't fish or hunt with the pirates aware of their presence. "See any?"
"I'll be right back," he replied, mounting the broom and speeding away before she could answer.
Shaking her head, she pulled a piece of wood out from her pocket and enlarged it, then cut a few slits into it before starting to stick plants, rocks and earth on it.
Harry returned with two coconuts before she was finished. "I plucked them while flying, he said. "No tracks on the ground."
"Good." That would, or so she hoped, stop the dogs from finding them. She looked up. The sky was more blue than dark now. "Let's go hide."
They entered the cave - they had to crawl into it, but she had made the interior a little larger.
"Will that hold?" Harry asked, looking at the ceiling.
"I've used some wood turned into metal to strengthen it," she told him.
"But will it hold?" he repeated himself.
She bit her lower lip. "I hope," she said after a moment. "I don't know - this isn't a shelter with a thin roof."
He slowly nodded. "Guess we'll have to chance it."
"Yes."
He sat against the wall and held out one of the coconuts. "Bon appetit."
"You'll have to eat as well," she said.
"I know."
"Good." She nodded, then cut the nut open. "Do you want a sip?"
Harry shuddered, and she emptied the coconut on the ground before vanishing the milk and cutting the meat up.
She took a bite, grimaced and gave Harry his share.
"What now?"
Harry Potter put his… breakfast? - down and looked at her. "We've got a broom," he told her. "That means we have more options."
"We still have to break into the prison. And if we don't want to risk just flying through the wards - and that's risky - we still have to steal a fishing boat - from the beach of the village," she pointed out.
"But with the broom, we can set fire to the jungle here and quickly reach the village," he retorted.
"That only works if the fire serves as a distraction in the first place," she said. "And since they set fire to the jungle first, they might not be concerned enough about another fire to arrive in force."
He sighed. She was right. "Then we need a better distraction."
"Do you have an idea?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. But it needs to be convincing and urgent enough to draw a large part of the pirates away. Our planned distractions in the village itself should still work." Dropping enlarged spikes on the ship should draw attention. As should a horde of giant mice in the village.
She nodded. "But they won't really help us sneak into the prison undetected. Not with the entire crew in the village."
"Since they were so quick to set fire to the jungle, setting fire to the village wouldn't work, I think," Harry said. "Not that we would do that, of course.," he added quickly when he saw her expression.
She shook her head. "We should fake an escape attempt," she suggested. "If they monitor the wards, they should react."
"That's dangerous," he said. And crazy - they had no idea how lethal the wards were. But if they were a couple centuries old...
"Yes. But if the wards are just tied to a stunning curse or something similar, then I can take it, you drag me away and wake me up, and we move to the village while they search the sea," she suggested.
He stared at her. Was she suicidal? "And if it's not a Stunner?"
She pressed her lips together.
He frowned. "Would you let me test it?" he asked.
The glare he received in return told him enough.
"I guess that means no self-sacrificing plans." He grinned at her frowning expression.
"That goes for both of us," she spat.
"Of course." He wouldn't let her sacrifice herself.
She sighed. "We still need a distraction."
He mulled it over. Fire wouldn't work - not when the pirates used it so… enthusiastically. "What if we lay a fake track… lure them on a chase through the jungle? Add traps?"
He saw her purse her lips as she thought it over. "That might work - unless they just start setting the area on fire."
"If they do, then that should occupy them for a while," he replied.
"But they know we can fly - they saw us escape on the plank."
"Yes. But they found us with dogs," he retorted.
"The first time. They might've spotted tracks at the beach the second time. We weren't quite as careful when we thought we only had to worry about the wyvern. And will they chase after us at night or wait until daylight, when they have the advantage?" She cocked her head to the side as she tore into his plan.
He clenched his teeth for a moment. "If we can't rely on that, then we need to use one of us as bait." He looked straight at her. "On a broom, I can lead them on a chase. Draw them away from the village. If I start dropping spikes on the ship, they're bound to react."
She got it at once - he saw her glare at him. "You want me to sneak into the village and free the girl, then steal the fishing boat."
"Yes."
"And what about you?" She crossed her arms. "I'm not going to leave without you."
"I can circle around, lose them, and rush back to the village." He met her eyes.
She shook her head. "We need a better plan. We can't coordinate if we split up. I could be stuck in the prison, dealing with some protection, when you're coming back. Or we need to leave, and you're still being chased. It won't work."
It would be hers - and the girl's - best chance. Harry could try to flee with the broom afterwards, chance going through the wards. But the way she glared at him, he better not mention that. "Then I lead them away, lose them, and return, and then we enter the prison."
She slowly nodded.