Author's Note: Thank you so much for reviewing every chapter guys, I feel like I need a cardboard sign: Will Work For Comments

Seriously though, it helps keep me motivated to write when I can see people are reading 😊

I've got at least 26 chapters already written now, and I'm thinking it will probably end up around 31-32 total.

Also, buckle in, this is the last teen rated chapter I've written, next update will come with a rating change. Hope everyone is ok with that. Wink wink.


The answer was apparently no, as the librarian shot Melody and Harry a shared look of complete revulsion and escorted them all the way from the third floor elevator out the double doors in front.

Outside on the library stairs, Melody and Harry both laughed until they couldn't stand up. She helped Harry down to sit on the steps until the hardest laughter slowed to gasping giggles, and then they sat smiling, gazing at each other in complete wonder.

Was this what it was like to be with someone? Was this why Jane always had a special look reserved just for Carlos?

"I've never had so much fun in the library," Harry said. "And that's the plain truth."

"It was so worth it," she said.

Once they could think straight, they realized they'd have to finish researching if they ever wanted to discover what Sparrow was after. But now, they'd need to recruit one of their friends to go back in and retrieve the books they needed. So, Melody texted Jane from the library steps begging for her help.

Jane and Carlos showed up about ten minutes later still finishing the fancy coffee drinks they'd ordered with their breakfast. Dude trotted along behind them, stopping to sniff a few trees along the way.

She and Harry tried to explain what had happened in the library - the discovery of Triton's sapphires, Sparrow's sword, and the possibility that the trident could also be involved. They discussed their need for more research and explained that they'd been thrown out of the library before they could check out the books they needed.

"Why did you get thrown out?" Jane asked, looking at Melody like she'd grown another head.

Harry was proud as punch as he flashed his crazy lopsided smile and announced. "I asked Mel to be me girlfriend and she jumped me on the spot. The librarian didnae like that too much."

Melody opened her mouth to argue with him but realized that was exactly what had happened.

"Jumped you in a good way or a bad way?" Carlos said, still obviously confused about whether Melody was still mad at him, since he hadn't been filled in on yesterday's events like Jane had been.

Harry quirked a lip into a half-smile, laying the smolder on extra thick. "Well, which was it, lass?" He was obviously enjoying teasing her with an audience.

She shot him a withering glare and crossed her arms.

"Let me get this straight, Melody." Jane had her hands on her hips in a very Fairy Godmotherly gesture. "You got kicked out of the library for making out?"

Harry covered the lower half of his face with his hand, trying not to seem as amused as he was, since Jane was obviously so perturbed by this turn of events.

"Well, we'd also been making a ton of noise, so it could have been that," Melody said.

"During or after the kissing?" Dude asked with a mischievous wag of his tail.

Carlos shot the dog a glare, raising a lip in disgust. "Dude, that's gross. I did not need to think about that."

"I don't even know who you are anymore," Jane said shaking her head at Melody. "And Harry, you know better than that, you know your scholarship depends on you following the rules. You could be expelled."

Melody swallowed. She hadn't thought of that.

Harry was scratching the back of his neck, trying to avoid Jane's accusatory glare.

As Jane continued to stare at them, hands on her hips, a slow smile began to replace her frown, and just like that, the angry parent charade was over, and she burst into laughter.

Carlos and Dude started in, too.

Jane wrapped an arm around Melody's shoulder, her body still shaking with aftershocks of her laughter. "You had your first kiss in a hospital bed and he asked you to be his girlfriend in the quiet room at the library? You two have problems. There's no hope for either of you."

"Well," Harry said, twirling his hook with a flourish, "she said aye, so I must be doin' summat right, eh lass?"

"Maybe a little something," Melody agreed, narrowly resisting the urge to jump him again as he unveiled that heart-stopping smile of his.

Jane didn't miss the look they shared either, saying. "Okay, you guys stay here before you can get into more trouble and I'll work my magic and get those books. Can you write down the titles for me?"

Harry scribbled the names of the books on a piece of paper and Jane, Carlos, and Dude entered the library on a mission.

They returned ten minutes later, each carrying a tall stack of familiar titles.

"Victory," Carlos announced.

"Let's take the books over there," Melody said, pointing to a bench in the shade along the path, "It's a nice day, and I'd rather put some space between us and that librarian."

She helped Harry down the steps and they set up their base of operations underneath a white-barked sycamore. It was off the main path but was close enough to the library in case they had more ideas and needed to send Jane or Carlos back in for more research material.

Melody set down her backpack, Harry's jacket, and Triton's Bounty on the picnic table and opened the book.

"Hey, I didnae see yeh brought me jacket," Harry said. "Thank yeh. That one's me favorite. I thought I left it on the Revenge!"

He smiled and balled it up to shove it into his bag. Melody tried to hide the slight frown she felt tugging her lips down. After the comfort it brought her in class this morning, she was hoping she could hold onto it for a bit longer.

"What's that face for, lass?" he said, coming up next to her super close as per Harry usual, and cocking his head.

"Nothing." She said, sinking down onto the bench seat. "I'm just ready to concentrate and figure this out."

Harry scrunched his brows together before looking up at their friends, namely Jane who was doing a very poor job hiding the smile on her face. "Am I missin' summat here?" he asked her.

Melody sighed, resting her chin on her hand, pretending to focus.

Carlos elbowed Harry in the side, whispering, "This is one of these unwritten Auradon rules, bud. You always let the lady keep your jacket. Could be a shirt, a sweatshirt, whatever it is, you let your girl keep it."

Harry's mouth was hanging open as he considered this. "But why, mate? It's nae likely to fit her, she's such a wee thing, it would drag on the ground behind her."

Carlos shook his head. "You are hopeless."

Melody was trying very hard to remain buried in the pages of her book, pretending she was not listening to any of this conversation.

But when Jane started in, she couldn't help but feel that familiar flush of embarrassment bloom across her skin.

"Harry," Jane began, sounding a lot like a mother explaining the birds and the bees, "girls always find an excuse to steal their boyfriend's sweater or jacket. Mel was probably hoping to hold onto it, because it smells like you."

Harry looked down at Melody as if seeing her for the very first time. "Is that it, lass? Yeh like the way I smell?" His nose was wrinkled as if he couldn't quite believe this new information.

Melody scrubbed a hand over her face, there was no sense lying about it. He was starting to be able to read her as well as his books. "Yes, Harry." Her voice was clipped with humiliation as she continued staring down at the page in front of her.

"Well, sink me right here," he said, his forehead wrinkling in thought. Then his eyes widened as he had an idea. "If you want one that's nice and smelly, yeh should take this one I'm wearin'. It hasnae been washed in a few days at least."

And he was now stripping off his red coat looking quite pleased with himself.

Jane and Carlos lost it then. They were practically falling over behind him, laughing so hard nothing came out, doubled over in silent laughter as Harry went on completely oblivious.

"It makes sense," Harry was saying, mostly to himself, as though he was working out a problem out loud. "I like the way yeh smell, too." Then he was leaning over, directing his next question at her. "Do we trade then? Can I have summat of yers?"

Dude had tired of this conversation, moving over toward the shade for a nap, complaining as he went. "Humans are so strange. You guys should just sniff each other's butts and get it over with."

Everyone laughed, and somehow Melody's embarrassment didn't seem so bad anymore. She wasn't strange for liking his smell, because he'd just announced he felt the same way.

"I mean, you could trade if you wanted to," Carlos said, wiping the tears from his eyes. He raised his shoulders in question as he looked to Jane for help in the advice department.

She shrugged.

Harry wadded up the red coat and set it right on top of the book Melody was reading before slipping into the brown jacket she'd slept with last night.

He smiled to himself, but before he sat down, he lifted an arm to sniff at his coat.

"This one doesnae smell like me anymore, anyway. Smells like yeh now, lass. Were yeh wearin' it?"

Jane had her hand over her mouth covering her smile, likely remembering how she'd found Melody snuggling with it this morning.

Harry was really going to pull every embarrassing detail out of this situation wasn't he?

But Melody was done fighting it. She rolled her eyes before standing up, miming a finger tap against the fake microphone held in her hand, as though she was about to make a big announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, since you all are dead set on embarrassing me," she turned to fix her eyes on Harry, "I may or may not have cuddled with your jacket last night because I missed you. Now, I will take your smelliest jacket because it will make me happy and help me sleep tonight." And she shoved his red jacket into her bag and sat back down with no further discussion.

Harry hummed a high-pitched sound of excitement at that. And her wild-eyed pirate was obviously pleased with the honest proclamation of her feelings, as he came bounding over and rested his head on her shoulder from behind.

"You two are so adorably weird, I might be sick," Jane said.

Harry gave Melody a squeeze before taking the seat next to her and settling down with one of the books on the table.

Jane and Carlos pulled a book from the stack and sat down, while Melody started thumbing through the pages of The Sea Witch's Chronicles next.

They read until the shade shifted a bit and sunlight dappled the pages in front of her. They read until ther eyes started crossing. Then, finally Melody came across a passage that seemed important.

She read it out loud for everyone.

"Triton's trio of sapphires were separated due to their immense energy when combined into one magical item. They were kept separate to avoid one person carrying too much power. One sapphire is embedded in the hilt of Triton's sword, one at the heart of Triton's Trident, and one at the heart of the Scallop Locket. The effects of all three together are unknown, as even King Triton himself was hesitant to set them to a task together, fearing the power of their combined strength."

Everyone's eyes widened at this news.

Jane was now scribbling frantic notes in her planner. "We need to let the King and Queen know to make sure that trident is locked down at the Museum of Cultural History. That's where it is, right?"

Melody nodded. "It's only removed once a year for the Mer-festival."

Jane nodded. "Okay, I'll give Mal a call and talk to her about what's going on. What about the sword?"

"I found a picture of it in this book," Carlos said, holding his book open so they could see the picture.

Melody leaned over the picnic table to study the image. Triton's sword had a golden blade with a unique pattern of ridges running the entire length. And its hilt was decorated with sapphires. Her heart flopped around awkwardly a few times before finding its normal rhythm again. That was the sword Zach Sparrow was using. Melody would have recognized it anywhere.

"That's it," Harry said, stabbing his hook at the picture in question. "What does the caption underneath say?"

Carlos read the paragraph below the picture out loud.

According to legend, Triton's sword was forged by Triton himself in Atlantica. The sapphire gives the sword its legendary power, the ability to bring dead matter to life. This power can be used on anything associated with ships at sea, including their rigging and sails, giving the wielder the power to move a ship at their will. One legendary owner of the sword was the infamous Blackbeard, but the last known wielder was Hector Barbossa. Most recently the sword has been rumored to reside with the crew of the Black Pearl.

"Well guys," Melody said, slamming her book shut. "We are well and truly screwed."


Melody, Harry, Jane, and Carlos sent texts to the rest of their friends, asking them to meet out in front of the library so they could share what they'd found. Once Uma, Gil, Jay and Lonnie had joined them, they gave an update on everything they'd learned.

"So, to review," Jane said in her most instructional tone, "Sparrow has a sword that can raise the dead and allows him to go wherever he wants. He may be after Triton's trident which has the power to manipulate energy and control the sea itself. He's definitely after Melody because he wants the third sapphire to complete the trio. And no one knows what power the three sapphires would have when used together."

Though Jane began her quick review of the facts using her light, fairy-splanation voice, they all quickly realized how serious their situation was. Now Jane's posture began to look tired, weighed down as they all considered the implications of Zach Sparrow's appearance in Auradon.

Power beyond that which even King Triton had been fearful to wield. In the hands of the captain of The Black Pearl.

There was no way they could allow it to happen.

Every shoulder drooped, frown lines and wrinkles between their eyes prevailed over smiles, and no one spoke for a long time. Even the gentle breeze that had been blowing for the last few days seemed to settle, giving the moment an eerie stillness.

"We need to take him out before he gets another sapphire," Harry said, staring off into the trees at nothing in particular.

"Or," Melody said, drawing out the word, "steal back the sapphire he has."

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"Use me as bait," she said. "If we can arrange the meeting place, we'd have the advantage. Hide our numbers. Then I go willingly. And Uma, you will be there with your ship to whisk me and the sword away."

"Absolutely not." Harry was standing now, arms crossed, glaring down at her. "Have yeh lost yer mind? That isnae happenin' unless it's over me dead body."

Carlos was also looking doubtful. "If Uma's whole crew couldn't stop Sparrow, what makes you think you would be any different?"

"The element of surprise. Sparrow wouldn't expect me to do anything but deliver the locket," she said. "And if I don't see an opportunity to snatch up the sword quickly, I'll just jump overboard. They can't catch me so long as I don't give him the locket right away."

"Too risky," Jane said.

But Jay slapped Harry on the shoulder with an apologetic look. "It's not a bad plan."

Harry's face had gone a bright shade of crimson and he was about to argue again when Uma cut him off. "So plan 'A', steal the sword and escape into the sea. We'd need a plan 'B' though. A way to make sure Melody could get off the ship even without the locket," Uma said. "Plan for the worst. I mean what if he grabbed you? What if you couldn't use the locket to jump overboard in time? It's not like Sparrow would just let you walk back over to us with his sword."

"I've got an idea for that," Gil said, and everyone waited for him to finish so they could get their laughter out of the way. Gil's ideas were often… interesting.

Gil straightened his bandana, puffed himself up a bit and announced, "Pixie dust."

"Pixie dust?" Melody crinkled her nose.

Everyone looked at each other, letting the idea rattle around inside of their heads until their expressions simultaneously transformed from amused to thoughtful. It was actually a pretty good idea, if they knew where to get some pixie dust.

"Your father has some locked up in his cargo hold back on the Isle, right mate?" Gil asked.

But Harry was still frozen with his arms crossed, looking every bit the villainous pirate she'd thought him to be when school had first started. "I said, over me dead body. What part o' that do yeh nae understand?"

Uma laid a hand on his shoulder. "Harry," she said. "It's a good plan. If something goes wrong, she could fly right out of there if she had pixie dust."

Melody was glaring at Harry now. "You do not get to decide what I can and cannot do, Harry. And if this is our best plan then of course I'm going to do it."

He was rubbing his temples in agitation, obviously trying to hold back from starting yet another fight.

"Cannae yeh just call yer grandfather? Let him come and deal with Sparrow?"

"One, this isn't his territory," she said. "Two, Uma said the seas are fair game for pirates. Three, his trident is in the museum. And four, as I've already said, if my family knew what was happening they'd lock me up."

He got quiet and his voice was just a murmur. "At least yeh'd be safe that way."

The familiar heat of her quick temper caused her skin to prickle. No. She was not going back to being locked up with only her books for company.

She realized then that she'd rather take her chances with the pirates than go back to her old, sheltered life in her family's castle. She had friends, a boyfriend, and a life she was building on her own. There was no way she was giving any of it up to go back home.

"If you can think of a better idea, Harry, then I'm all ears." She crossed her arms in challenge, daring him to say something more.

Harry was staring at her with pursed lips, twisting his hook in his hands when he finally growled. "Have I mentioned yer very difficult, lass. 'Cause yeh are. Yeh really, really are."

But Melody appreciated that he was holding back his immediate gut reaction, which had probably been to yell at her and force her into whatever he thought best. And now, she was starting to understand where those reactions came from. Fear. Harry wasn't trying to control her, he was afraid for her.

She breathed deeply, feeling her tight shoulders relax before letting her hand rest gently on his forearm. "Sparrow doesn't want me, Harry. He won't risk making enemies with my family. He wants the locket."

The tension seemed to drain from him with that simple touch and he grasped for her hand. "I know. But if summat were to happen to yeh, I dinnae think I could ever forgive mehself."

He stared off at the sycamore's canopy overhead, a muscle in his jaw working as though he was literally chewing something over. Then his brows drew together and his whole body seemed to tighten. He tilted his head toward Uma. "Yeh remember what Mal did to us back on the Lost Revenge. With Fairy Godmother's wand?"

Uma looked at him with a twist of a smirk on her lip. "Yes."

Melody had heard about the day the pirates had taken King Ben for ransom. Maleficent's daughter had tricked the pirates into thinking she'd offered them the Fairy Godmother's wand in trade for King Ben. Really, she'd traded them a copy of the wand she'd made with their 3D printer.

"What if we did the same with the locket?" Harry glanced down at the golden scallop hanging from her neck. "Offer Sparrow a copy. Then yeh'd have more options to escape. Pixie dust as plan B, and a lookalike locket for plan C. The more backup plans the better, right?"

Uma crossed her arms over her chest and tapped a rhythm with her boot as she considered his plan.

Then unfolding her arms, she took a deep breath and announced their plan with the authority of a captain, forcing all ears into attention. "We'll still need another ship at least, so we'll work on discovering all we can about the Jolly Roger. We'll scrape our money together to hire a crew. And Harry, when you're healed enough, we'll make a plan to get the pixie dust."

Then she turned her attention to Melody, rattling off orders to her, too as though she was just another of her crew. "Meanwhile, Melody, you have work to do. You'll need to find a jeweler who can make a replica of your necklace. And Harry will need to get you up to speed with your self-defense real quick. You'll need to learn some basic hand to hand combat, maybe some sword handling …"

Harry squeezed her hand reflexively and she could see he was gritting his teeth again.

"Just in case," Melody assured him. "Just enough to be able to slip away if I need to."

He hauled in a breath and exhaled slowly. "I guess yeh get what yeh asked for. Looks like I'll be teachin' yeh to defend yerself just like yeh wanted."

"And you'll get your Jolly Roger. Seems like a win, win."

He scooched closer on the bench seat until his side was fully pressed against hers. Then he cupped his hand around her ear as if he was going to whisper something to her. Instead, she felt the light drag of his tongue skimming along the outer shell of her ear, followed by an immediate eruption of goosebumps across her arms.

"Ugh, Harry!" She batted him away playfully. "You cannot keep doing stuff like that!"

But she knew he could see the smile underneath her very feeble protest.

His eyes scrunched tight as he let out a high-pitched hoot of laughter, catching himself with a hand on the bench before he fell over.

When he recovered, he leaned into her again, his fingers splayed on her thigh, actually whispering something this time, "I'm sorry, lass. I got a little excited. I just cannae wait to see yeh with a sword in yer hand."

That low drawl, and the way he thickly rolled those sounds against her ear had her clenching her legs together. And that was all it took to convince Melody that she was going to love learning to sword fight.