Jack stayed in his cabin for two days. He refused to let anyone in. He knew he was slowly dying, but what would claim him first: dehydration, starvation, lack of sleep or the bullet in him? By the way, Jack thought that he was not hiding at all, but merely staying away from those thieving, mutinous scallywags that he use to call his best mates.

"Come on Jack. You need to get out of there," Gibbs tried to rouse his friend out.

Jack shook his head despite the fact that Gibbs could not see him. He knew he was running a fever, but he didn't care. He would rather die than let anyone else take his ship, he already proved and done that with the great Beastie.

Outside the captains' cabin, Anamaria told them that they were nearing Tortuga. As they neared the port, they found the small isle to be in ruins. The crew gasped.

"There's got to be more ports accepting pirates," Gibbs said angrily.

Jack heard the commotion and curiosity got to him, he ventured outside. The heat was tolerable, but the small breeze felt good against his sweating, fevered body.

"Jack!"

"Take port here," Jack said.

"Captain don't you see what has become of Tortuga?" Pintel said. He pointed at the sign that read, Pirates Ye Be Warned.

"Aye," Jack said. He gave a small prayer to their fallen pirates.

" 'Tis bad luck sir," one pirate said.

"We've…got to…" Jack felt like someone stuffed his head with cotton. He couldn't make out anything as the world swam around him. He could feel the darkness seeping through his vision but he tried to stay awake.

"We're going to Port Royal. It's not the safest, but at least he will be taken care of over there," Gibbs said.

Gibbs was no doctor but he can tell if someone was sick or not and Captain Jack Sparrow was one sick dog.

"It looks like Jack hasn't even had a wink of sleep," Anamaria commented. They watched their friend try to be steady on his feet, but they took him back into his cabin.

"No!" Jack said. He tried to get up, but he could feel people weighing and holding him down.

"You need some rest Jack," someone said.

"No," Jack said again.

Gibbs, as first mate, told the remaining crew to make sail for Port Royal and to change their colours if they were going to come out of Port Royal alive. But before they could leave Tortugas' port, they heard someone screaming for them.

"WAIT! WAIT!" someone screamed.

The crew stopped what they were doing and peered over the railings to see two dirty women, one with red hair and the other had blonde hair; both of them wore ruined dresses.

"Ladies! So good to see you!" Jack said cheerfully greeting both of them. He momentarily forgot about the little affair.

The crew exchanged glances with each other. For a moment ago, Jack was pinned down and about to sleep. Now he is up and about, as if nothing was ailing him.

"YOU! Never mind! You may leave," Scarlet said the moment her eyes rested on Jack.

"Yeah. We can make it through," Giselle said.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Now there, loves. You're welcome to join us, loves, but if you want, you may never ever again see the lights and seas of Captain Jack Sparrow," he said the last part dramatically with a pained expression.

"And why is that?" Scarlet asked without compassion towards her old flame. She put her hands on her hips.

"Because my dear, I'm wounded and possibly dying," Jack said. He pretended to swoon.

"Goodbye Sparrow," Scarlet and Giselle said with a little wave.

"Poppycock!" Jack said. This time he really did swoon, but this time he went overboard.

Those present heard his body make contact with the sea with a splash. For a moment, no one did anything and then realization came to them and all hell broke lose.

"Jack!" several people yelled.

The waters were still and yet no one dove down after him. After all, not many of them can swim.

Jack could feel the water pull him lower and lower. As he drifted downwards, he could faintly see the light from the surface and heard laughter. It sounded familiar…Davy Jones! How could he be back?

The air ran out in his lungs and he struggled to reach the surface. He could feel his body break through the surface and he took large deep breaths. Before he could swim towards the dock he felt the water weighing him down again. For what seemed like an eternity, he broke through the bonds and swam as fast as he could towards the dock as he heard the damned laugher of Davy Jones fill the air around him. He thought he saw a large tentacle flick behind him at the corner of his eye.

Jack hoisted himself on top of the dock. He plopped on the spot and let himself regain his breath and composure that is Captain Jack Sparrow. But he was shaking visibly from having Davy Jones almost getting him again.

"Are you all right Jack?" Giselle asked him. She held him close to her bosom much to the relief of the captain.

"I'm fine now," Jack said with a sly smile. He stopped shaking.

"Good," Giselle said. She helped Jack up and then she smacked right across the cheek.

"I don't think I deserved that. What was that for?" Jack asked rubbing his cheek. This time he really had no idea what he was being slapped for.

"That was for you not coming for me sooner," Giselle said. She turned around and walked up the now lowered plank towards the great ship.

Before Jack could say anything he felt a painful sting across his other cheek. "Wretch! What was that for?"

"That was for incase the young handsome man forgot to give it to you," Scarlet said. She trailed after Giselle.

As soon as Jack was safely onboard his ship, he said with as much enthusiasm as a man could say after being slapped twice, "Welcome aboard the Black Pearl. The fastest ship in the Caribbean that could beat the devil himself. "

He felt himself being slapped again the moment he turned towards his crew.

"And what was that for?" Jack asked with a small smile while rubbing his reddening cheeks.

"For bringing them along," Anamaria said and walked away.

"Women," Jack muttered under his breath.

"Are you all right Jack?" Gibbs asked him.

"I think I was better off drowning," Jack said. His face was starting to feel sore.

"Do we have a heading, sir?" Gibbs asked.

"Aye," Jack said. "Anywhere but here. And do try to sail around that one island full of cannibals who thought me to be their God in flesh who needed to be freed."

"I'll see what we can do," Gibbs said and soon walked off.

Jack started to walk towards his cabin when he felt the unmistakable slap across his cheek. What'd he do now to deserve this lifetime of slaps?

"Bloody hell!" Jack said frustrated. "Now what was that for!"

"I dunno…I felt a little bit excluded," Ragetti said.

Jack sighed in frustration and pain. "Keep it to yourself next time."

"Aye sir. Sorry sir," Ragetti said and kept his head bowed as he walked off.

Jack left the deck and went back to his cabin. He didn't need Scarlet or Giselle there, though it would be comforting, to tell him what happened at Tortuga. He all ready knew and it was not a good sign at all; Royal Navy and possibly the East India Trading Company.

He plopped on his bed and let his mind wander as they set sail once again, but unfortunately for our dear captain, his mind wandered deep as he was swept into a memory that was not his.

He was in some sort of cottage. The same boy, no man, was there again. The one with messy black hair, glasses, his skin was paler than the previous self, and he looked a little bit older. Instead of wearing those strange formal clothes, he wore just black trousers. He was just sitting at the table eating some sort of broth with a strange sandwich.

Jack could see the many scars crisscrossing his bare back with the word VOLDEMORT going diagonal from his right shoulder and stopping at the hip like some sort of banner. The letters seemed familiar to Jack, but he couldn't place where. Jack tried to move, but found that he was bound there.

They both hear knocking on the door and the whelp opened it just a crack. He gasped and quickly shut the door again. He managed to spit some of the broth out of his mouth and hastily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He took a deep breath and unlocked the small copper chain barricades from the door. The door seemed to glow for a second.

He opened the door for the family to be let it. "Sorry about that. Please come in."

"Thank you Harry dear," an older red-haired woman said. She looked nothing like Scarlet.

As the family piled inside, Harry, the man-child, hurriedly pulled a shirt over his head. He turned around briefly and he didn't notice the youngest of the bunch look wide-eyed at his back, but they didn't say anything.

"Dreadfully sorry for this mess Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. He hurried from corner to corner picking up everything he can.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Harry," the older male, Mr. Weasley, said cheerfully. "But it is awfully drafty in here."

Up to this point, Harry didn't notice that they were taking off their coats and scarves.

"Is it snowing all ready?" Harry asked them confused. He could have sworn it was spring.

The red-haired family couldn't help but notice all the papers, books, shirts, feathers, empty inkwells, some strange objects, shiny multi-coloured round discs, small black rectangular things, diagrams of ships, a few bottles, and other various things lying about in the room.

"Not yet Harry," one of the men said.

"Yup fall it is now. And it has just begun to be one of the coldest ones yet," his identical twin said.

"Leaves are turning," the first twin said.

"Heads will roll with the on-coming holidays," the second twin said.

"Especially with our new invention."

"Which, sadly, we can not tell you with this lot here."

"Yup, truly sorry we are mate. I think you would of loved the idea too, since dear Remus is the one who gave us the idea."

"Hint.Hint."

"Boys. I told you not to bother Harry."

Harry had a few books under his arm as he went to put them away. "So it's fall then?"

"Uh…that's what we just said Harry," the second twin said. "Where have you been this whole time?"

"I've been here…" Harry sounded lost and confused. He stopped what he was doing and froze on the spot.

After a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, the eldest woman spoke. "Harry, dear, have you eaten anything yet?"

Harry seemed to have snapped out of his daze. "Yeah I was in the middle of eating, but go make yourselves a home here. Mr. Weasley you said it was cold here? Here," Harry said as he lazily waved and pointed a stick, a wand, at the dusty and cow webbed fireplace. Black flames grew from inside, quickly turned an ice blue.

"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Aye. I mean yes," Harry said. He coughed and pointed at the next room, which would be the kitchen.

The table where he used for eating was littered with more papers, aside from the bowl of now old soup and a half eaten sandwich.

"Do you mind if we help you clean?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She was starting to fear for the boy whom she once thought of as a son. He was starting to have very poor cleaning habits.

"Nah. I wouldn't be as daft as to put you to work if you're my guests," Harry said. He didn't bother using magic to clean up for him.

"Are you sure? It wouldn't be a bother at all," Mrs. Weasley said. She looked forlornly at the plates and clothes that needed to be cleaned.

"I'm as positive as Snuffles being innocent," Harry said.

"Snuffles?" the family inquired.

"I meant Sirius. Yeah Sirius," Harry said and he seemed to have dazed off by some unseen force again.

The family just looked at him with uncertainty. Was he loosing his head? This Harry has changed from the sane young boy to this now struggling adult. Was it the war, the defeat of Voldemort, or the betrayal of his fiancé?

"Harry, dear, are you busy tonight?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Busy? Tonight?" Harry asked when he visibly shook himself. "I was going to go over these diagrams and think up a plan to infiltrate Voldemorts' wards."

"Harry?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"Mum I told you he's gone off his rocket ever since that failed marriage with her," Ron whispered loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"Ronald! What did I tell you?" Mrs. Weasley said warningly.

'Marriage? With her?' Harry thought and he remembered something. He started to rub his chest where the glass only pierced him months earlier. "Oh! Sorry about that. I forgot to take my medication," Harry laughed nervously.

He pulled out a small corked vial and a pill from under the piles of paper on the table. He gulped both down in a matter of seconds.

"There! All better," Harry said smiling as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. He seemed more confident and sure of his actions. "Yeah. Sorry again. I have some sort of memory relapse from time to time because of you know what at you know where. It makes me kind of perky I suppose," Harry said using a lot of hand movements and gestures.

"He's still off his rocker," Ron said mumbling.

"Other than that. I don't think I have anything planned for tonight. Why do you ask?" Harry asked them.

"Oh didn't you get the invite, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Invite? Is something happening?" Harry asked confused. He looked at each of their faces and noticed that Ron wasn't looking at him. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yes Harry. Everyone's all right. Nothing to fuss over about," Ginny said.

"Then?" Harry started to say.

"Our youngest brother proposed to Hermione," Fred and George said at the same time. They both clasped Ron's shoulders and pretended to sob.

"Oh," was all Harry could say. "Congratulations Ron."

"Mum we're going to be late," Ron said ignoring Harry.

"Yes Ronald, I'm pretty sure that Hermione and her parents could hold off a few more minutes," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Harry didn't you get the owl that Ron sent a few weeks ago?" Bill asked.

"I haven't received any owls other than the Daily Prophet and my doctor. Other than those two, nothing," Harry said. He did receive the random letter of his fans, but he didn't feel it was time to mention them.

"I'm pretty sure that he probably lost it somewhere in the mountain of papers he has stacked here," Ron said. He was starting to fidget.

"Uh…let me try something. Accio Ron's invitation," Harry said waving his wand out again.

They waited several seconds, but nothing appeared.

Harry realized that Ron didn't want him at the small party to celebrate and that the Weasleys' were just trying to make him feel included, like he was apart of a family.

"Oh well. Come on now we've got to go now. Hermione has probably been waiting for an hour now," Ron said.

"Harry you could still join us," Mr. Weasley said. That vaguely reminded Harry of Voldemort and Death Eaters.

"I'm sorry, but I will have to decline your invite. I seem to have forgotten that something had come up later tonight in the evening, you know," Harry said feeling put down.

"Oh. Maybe we'll see you at the wedding rehearsal or the wedding," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Yes I will make sure to have free time for that. It's not like I don't believe that my best mate is going to get married to my other best mate or anything like that," Harry said. He mentally glared at Ron.

"Well, Ron still hasn't picked a best man," Mr. Weasley hinted.

"Actually, I told Seamus that he will be," Ron said hastily. "We're going to be late."

"Oh, well I better let the wards down so that you can make a hasty arrival. Do give Hermione my congratulations. I know how women like to feel special on that sort of day," Harry said ignoring what Ron said before.

"Thank you for having us here," Ginny said.

"Thanks for coming. It gets awfully lonely here with Hedwig dead for the past week now, you know. Well I'm sure we'll meet again so there's no need for such formal goodbyes" Harry said and waved at them as he took down the wards from his house.

"Bye Harry," the family said and left with a 'pop'.