"Thanks, mate. Now what were ye saying?" Jack had quit occupying with the small jar of jam. He first took a small sip of the wine, then a longer one.
"Jack, please don't try anything to our servants," Will said.
"You can go ahead and do that with your crew, but not our servants," Elizabeth said.
"This whole this is going to addle me noodles," Jack muttered.
"Excuse me?" Ron asked.
"Begad! Will, Elizabeth! There are strangers in your home!" Jack exclaimed as if noticing them for the first time. He stood up and swayed on the spot. "Marcel! Quick! Call the two bucko's and tell them to stop bilge-sucking!"
"Sir, whatever are you talking about? For the last time, my name is Marcus," he said.
"Don't listen to him. He's just feverish right now from the wound," Elizabeth said trying to reassure their guests. "He is usually a lot more…"
"Mindful," Will finish for her.
"Blimey! Use yer deadlights, mate, it will do you good." Jack said. He tried to focus his eyes on his surroundings, but the strain he put his body through gave out. He fell to the floor like a sack of spuds.
"Jack!"
"Big fire…more wood…" Jack muttered and fainted.
Marcus helped him into his seat despite his dislike for the pirate. "Perhaps, I should take him to his room?" Marcus asked.
"Go get some rum," Will said. "He will be a lot better by then."
"Shall I fetch a doctor also?"
"No. As much as we would love to, we can't," Elizabeth said.
"All right," Marcus said.
"Terribly sorry about all this," Elizabeth apologized.
"It's all right, but is he always like this?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"No."
"He's Captain Jack Sparrow," Will said as if that would explain everything about the man.
"Ah, I see," Hermione said.
"He was a lot more…collective and in charge the other day," Endora commented and took a small sip of wine.
"He's gone then has he?" Jack asked. He was feigning unconsciousness.
"Who?"
"Marcus. You know the lad that was here but has gone now to fetch me some rum. By the way thanks Will," Jack said rubbing his injured side. He really did fall from all the strain and happened to land where he was shot.
"You mean you caused all that commotion just to get rum?" Ron asked.
"Let us call it a diversion. Aye, mate?" Jack said.
"We're not mates," Ron said. "So don't "mate" me as if we were."
"Ronald!" Hermione hissed across from him.
"Sorry," Jack said first. Will and Elizabeth looked at him in shock at first. "I never really intended to mate you."
"Why you…" Ron started to say.
"So what brings you to Port Royal, Mister Ron?" Jack asked in an official crisp tone. He seemed utterly serious there which made the whole table silent.
"We're here to find mama and papa's friend!" Philip said suddenly.
"Philip!" Hermione hissed to her son. They never meant for it to be so blunt.
"Ah. And who is this said friend?" Jack asked.
"You! You're Harry Potter!" Philip said excitedly. It was as if he couldn't contain his excitement and bluntness.
"Me? No, no, no my little friend. Son, my name is Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?" Jack said. Flashes of images of that boy came into his head like a whirlwind and he couldn't get them to stop.
"Are you all right, Jack?" Will asked.
"Aye," Jack said rubbing his forehead through the red bandana. "Just is yer house haunted?"
"Haunted? What do you mean Jack?" Will asked the pirate curiously.
"You know the likes," Jack said looking around. "Ghosts."
"Jack, I can't believe you still believe in those stories," Elizabeth said. Then, she remembered her encounter with the ghostly and damned crew of Barbossa almost three years ago. "Never mind what I just said. Though, Jack, our home is not haunted by any means."
"Not even by an incubus?" Jack asked. He had that look on his face where it seems like he knows something, but he'll have to torture you with his cryptic speech before telling you.
"What are you going on about?"
"An incubus is a male demon, or rather imp, that seduces women in their sleep," Hermione stated as everyone just stared at her. "Shouldn't you be more worried about succubus' or alcohol poisoning?"
"It's nothing to worry about. Just dreams," Jack said. 'Nightmares really,' he thought. "So this 'arry Potter of yours…Is he someone who you should be meddling with?"
"You should know about meddling," Elizabeth muttered.
"As a matter of fact he is. So why don't you just come back home with us, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Son, I am not this Harry Potter of yours as you claim that I am. I am sure that if you were to test me, I'd fail," Jack said brightly.
"But you're Harry Potter!" Philip cried out. He sounded like a boy who found out that his pet just died.
"Ron, maybe we should explain ourselves first," Hermione said.
"Explain ourselves? He should be the one explaining things!" Ron yelled. He had jumped from his seat and pointed at Jack.
"Sir, I'm pretty sure if you were to go down the curvy road, you would find yerself in front of a building. And do you know what building that would be?" Jack asked as if explaining how to swab the decks perfectly. "Because I'm not sure myself either, but in one of those buildings there is…the town clerk. He can read you of my said crimes and will hang me until dead. Though he wouldn't be the one to hang me it would of course be the hangman, thus the title. Though without the hard craftsmanship of some poor fellow, there would be no gallows on which I stand. But it would not really be the gallows if it were not for the rope because you see, the rope is most important. Without the rope, there would be nothing to hang me with, unless cloth. Though cloth is not a very good material to be hanged with, I should know. So without the –"
"Enough!" Ron said exasperated.
"Ehhh?" Jack made a noise.
"Perhaps breakfast is over today. Unless, Jack still has an appetite?" Will looked at the man questionably.
"Nah," Jack said. He didn't have much of an appetite even though he didn't eat that morning and having only one meal between now and days without food. He just wanted to crawl between the warm bed covers and sleep.
"Please join us in the next room," Will said. He let Elizabeth led the way as he lagged behind with Jack. "Are you okay?"
"Aye, aye. Nothing big," Jack said. He distinctively hid his bleeding side with his arm. He silently cursed at the light coloured shirt as the red peeked through.
"Who do you think this Harry Potter is and why are they calling you him?" Will mused. He shot a dark look at the family.
"Me? I have no idea? They clearly have the wrong man," Jack said thinking. "I've always been Jack Sparrow since I could remember…They've been having too many drinks."
"Sir, here is your rum," Marcus said upon his arrival. He had handed Jack the bottle knowing that Will had intended it to be for him.
"Thanks, mate," Jack said and took a swig. He felt the warming effects the drink had as it went down his throat.
"Your welcome, sir," Marcus said straining on the words. He left the room so that the maids could tend to the table.
"What's his problem?" Jack asked.
"What is their problem?" Will asked referring to the family.
"Aye," Jack said. He suppressed the shiver that tried to break out. "Tis a bit nippy in 'ere."
Will looked at Jack as if he said something wrong. "Just a little below normal because of the storm. Do you wish to go back to bed?"
"Yes, but I can't. Dying enough as it is," Jack said. He added reassuringly, "I'll have enough rest when I do die though. No need to fret, dear William."