Creak…

Creak…

Creak…

Creak…

Hermione moaned and rolled over. Only she'd misjudged the amount of bed-space remaining to her right in her unconscious state, and she was awakened as her body slammed to the floor of her cabin. She let out a squeak and her eyes flung open wide. Then she moaned again and fell into her pile of blankets on the floor, her hair flying down around her. Her hair was in complete disarray, as it had dried as she slept and most probably looked absolutely ridiculous.

She'd fallen asleep during the eye of the storm the day before, still in her clothes and boots. Now she got to her feet stepped out of her blankets, setting them back on her bed in a heap. She combed her fingers through her hair, pulling it back tightly as she plaited it for a braid. Several frizzy pieces fell around her face, but it was the best she could do. As she braided, she meandered over to her desk and peered at her map. Her candle had dripped wax onto it, nearly gluing it to the table, but she could still find their current position, as it was readable enough.

They were way off course, headed for some unknown island in the completely wrong direction of the island they were meant to be going to. Finding Sirius and Harry's ship, she found that they, too, were going in wrong directions. Harry was going far too far to the left, and Sirius was headed back to shore. She chuckled, hoping he'd noticed. If he was still going in the wrong direction by tomorrow, she'd send him a patronus, if he didn't make it to shore before then, in which case he would find out for himself that he was headed the wrong way.

Listening for a moment or two, she realised that the storm had died down. She wondered briefly what time it was, and decided to head up on deck to find out.

The sun was nowhere to be found. The sky was sprinkled with stars as far as the eye could see. It was so gorgeous...it reminded her of the times on the Horcrux hunt, when she'd be on watch. She'd look up at the sky and it would be so easy to decipher the constellations high above them, for the sky was so clear and the stars were plenty.

Her favourite to find was always Draco the Dragon. She always insisted to herself that it was because she had to find two others in order to find the particular pattern and not because of the very handsome person who was now on her ship.

Hermione looked around to find there were only a few men on deck, keeping watch through the night. She was very proud.

Hermione approached the men and they all smiled at her as she neared them.

"'Ello, Cap'n," said Sawyer. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help during the storm. What's the verdict?"

"We don't mind that," said one of the other men. "We all respect Hermione Granger. You did help save us from him-who-shan't-be-called-by-name."

Hermione smiled. "I'm honoured."

"And for the verdict," said the only man who hadn't spoken yet. "We've got a few problems with one of the sails. We're going to need to head to land to get it fixed."

"Perfect," Hermione replied. "I've checked the maps, and we're headed to a little island. It's about two leagues ahead."

"Aye," said the first nameless man who spoke. "That be El Isle de Esmeralda. She be safe enough, if we stick to shore."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

The second unknown man spoke. "She be full of cannibals, deep on the inside. They don't hardly come to shore, 'course."

"We should be safe enough if we stick to shore and don't go messing around with their things."

"Thank you very much, gentlemen," Hermione replied. "That's important to know. May I ask your names?"

The first nameless man spoke. "Joe."

The second spoke. "Henry."

Hermione smiled. "And I know you, Sawyer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Henry and Joe."

"It's a pleasure to serve you, Cap'n Granger," said Henry, and Hermione bowed slightly before leaving them. They were all standing at the wheel. Hermione crossed the ship to the starboard side and peered over the edge, watching the crashing water beneath them. She shivered slightly, imagining what it would be like to plunge into that water. She figured if that happened and she were rescued, she'd never be able to live a normal life again. She was terrified of the ocean, and didn't want to ever have to make direct contact with it. Even if she was a pirate.

Draco lay in his bunk wide awake, his head rested on his arms. He'd dozed a bit after Longbottom had sent most of the men down to bed, but he had far too much on his mind to do some actual sleeping, despite how dead tired he was. He couldn't even keep his eyes opened, but once they were closed, his thoughts bombarded him with questions and no answers and he was completely incapable of sleeping.

He decided a quick walk around up on deck would help clear his mind, at least long enough for him to catch a wink of sleep. So he climbed out of his hammock as gracefully as one can get out of a hammock, and he sat on the floor as he pulled on his boots and laced them up. Then he, as quiet as he could in his clunky boots, climbed up on deck.

He ran his fingers through his hair and made his way to the port side to begin his walk. He marked his spot by a screw in the railing and headed right. When he made it all of the way back around 3 times, he would go back down and get to sleep. But this was a big ship, and if he went slowly, he figured he'd be walking at least fifteen minutes.

Something caught his attention as he was walking, and he stopped short, unsure of what he should do. Should he go back down to bed, or should he ignore her and just walk around her? Or should he make his presence known?

He couldn't think of what to do. Soon he found that he was simply standing there, staring at the captain as if he were insane. He heard laughter, and looked up at the wheel of the ship, where several men were standing, watching him as if he were some sort of animal.

He glared. "Something funny?"

"Just your apparent infatuation with Cap'n Granger," a man Draco knew to be named Sawyer commented.

"I am not infatuated with her," Draco replied.

"You hear that, men?" Sawyer said. "Blondie here isn't infatuated with the girl he's been staring at since we got on this ship."

Draco continued glaring. "You don't know me."

"Oh, I don't, Draco Malfoy?" Sawyer replied.

Draco held his ground. "No. You don't. And if you did before, you don't anymore. I'm different now."

"I'd believe him, Sawyer," said a man named Henry. "He left the last battle and helped Sirius Black back to life. I'm thinking he's on his own side."

"I am on my own side," Draco replied.

"Very well, then," Sawyer said. "You're on your own side." He grinned. "That doesn't mean you don't fancy Cap'n Granger."

Draco's eyes narrowed. He glanced back at Hermione, who was watching the water, and headed up next to the three men who were currently poking fun at him. "What does it matter to you if I do or I don't anyways?"

"It matters to us because we're old men without wives anymore who want to see the younger generations happy," said Joe. "Why don't you tell her?"

Draco smiled without humour and shook his head. "It's not that easy. I mean…I did try during the final battle…"

"You probably didn't try hard enough," Henry said.

"If kissing someone isn't good enough of an indication towards one's feelings, then I don't know what is."

Sawyer blinked, then burst out laughing. Draco looked over his shoulder to make sure Hermione hadn't looked over at the noise, but she was still preoccupied by the ocean.

"I'm sorry, lad," Sawyer said. "Have you tried talking to her about it? Maybe she's thought it over and has an idea as to her own feelings."

Draco shook his head.

"Well, now, don't be a coward!" Joe exclaimed. He turned Draco around and shoved him in Hermione's direction. "And don't come back until you tell her how you feel!"

Draco blinked and began to tentatively make his way towards Hermione, his only thoughts on how strange it was that he'd just received relationship advice from three middle-aged sailors.

...

Hey! ^^ I hope you liked this chapter! I'm finally on summer break, so I'll have a bit more time for writing. If I'm not updating quick enough, feel free to chew me out. I need a good kick in the butt to get me going every once and a while.

Bye, now! ^^