Sirius looked back and forth between his compass, his map, and the view before him several times for several minutes. Something was telling him he was going in the wrong direction. The first was that his compass said he was heading south when, in actuality, he was meant to be going north. The second was that he could see land before him, and there was no possible way they could have made it to the island already.

"Cap'n?" said a man with an unusually high voice.

Sirius set down his compass and turned around with a grin, hoping he wouldn't look as confused as he felt. "Yes, sir?" Sirius cleared his throat. At least, he thought the man was a sir. He couldn't recall taking on any woman. But even so, this man's tan skin seemed very smooth, and he was quite petite. Also, he was wearing a suspiciously large hat and a scarf that covered most of the lower portion of his face.

"We be headed in the wrong direction, Cap'n," he said. "Shall we turn the ship around?"

Sirius continued grinning. "Of course! I had just deciphered this problem myself. I'll relay the information to the crew. Thank you for your help."

The man nodded. "Aye, Cap'n."

He turned around and walked away. Sirius watched. He had a very feminine sway to his hips.

"Hm…" Sirius said as he turned around, stroking his beard. "Very suspicious…"

At just that time, a silvery creature splashed out of the ocean and up onto the ship. Sirius had to catch himself before he let out a girlish scream and he steadied everything on the table. He took several deep breaths when he realised it was only Hermione's patronus.

You're headed in the wrong direction. When you get everything straightened out, come to the Isla de Esmeralda, which I have highlighted on your map. We have something to discuss before we head to our islands again.

Sirius nodded at the otter, which jumped into the water and dissolved as it touched the ocean. Sirius looked down at his map to see that there was a blue outline around a certain island not too far from where he was. It would take a day at most to reach it.

If he turned the ship around.

"Alright, men!" Sirius called. "Let's turn this girl around. Head hard North-East! We're headed for the Isla de Esmeralda."

"But…Cap'n!" Exclaimed one of the men. "That Island be inhabited by cannibals!"

Sirius marched to the centre of the crowd of his men. "Listen up, because I'll only say this once. We are all men. I've hired you on only because I trust that you're the strongest of your lot. And besides that – we've all survived the war through its toughest times! Doesn't that mean we can do anything?"

The men were shaky, but they began to work again, following Sirius's orders. He never had been too good at the whole motivational speech thing. But hey, they were listening to him, and that's all that matters.

"I for one think we should just go wherever we were originally headed and skip the Island!"

Sirius's head snapped in the direction of the girlish voice he had heard earlier. "Oh, yeah? And why is that?"

"Because I don't want to risk my life!" he exclaimed. "Not for something so foolish! What's there that we have to see, anyways? Besides our impending doom?"

"Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter," Sirius replied. "They've got news for us. Apparently, it's news that we can't go on without, or they wouldn't ask us to risk our lives for it."

"That's ridiculous," the man replied angrily, but he returned to mopping the deck. "If they can send you a patronus, they can send you the information. We don't need to stop."

"You didn't have to take on with me," Sirius pointed out. "We're close to shore and you look like a good swimmer. If you don't want to come, go on and leave."

The man ignored Sirius in a very girlish way. And that was when Sirius was positive he wasn't dealing with a man, here. Sirius was an expert at woman. He knew he had a woman on his hands, and he knew he was going to reveal her.

"In due time," he muttered to himself. "In due time."

…

Harry stared down at the man he had tripped over, his eyes almost as wide as his.

Or hers.

"You are a woman."

The girl beneath him rolled her eyes. "What gave me away?"

Harry shook his head and sat up. He held out his hand and pulled the girl into a sitting position as well, allowing her hair to fall completely from the hat she had apparently been using to hide it. She placed a hand on her head where it had made contact with the deck, wincing, and Harry blushed. It had been his fault. He hadn't been watching where he was going and he'd tripped right over a barrel, knocking the both of them to the deck.

"Why are you dressed as a man?" Harry asked after a moment.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Because we saw your godfather turn away a few girls earlier in the day. My friend and I need to get to this island, though. My family's fortune resides there, along with thousands of spell books and other magnificent things. And we need to get there before my mother does. Because if she does get there, there's no telling what she could do with all of this powerful magic."

Harry's brow narrowed. "Who is your mother? No one should know about this island besides the Black family."

The girl looked at him with large, serious blue eyes. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry swallowed hard. "That means you're a…"

"A Lestrange, yes," she replied. "But Rodolphus is not my father, so I'm really a Snape. I was raised in secret by my father. Only a few people know I exist."

Harry's eyes widened. "Snape and Bellatrix?"

"Yes, but no one knows," the girl replied. "No one's supposed to know. I shouldn't have even told you…"

Harry smiled. "You can trust me. It's okay. I know your father. He works for me and the Order now, and he trusts me. At least, I think he does. And I know he's a very trustworthy man, who must have had his reasons. I'll help you get there before your mother does, and everyone will help. What is your name?"

She smiled. "Lily Jane."

Harry smiled as well. "Harry Potter, at your service. And if you had only explained your situation, we might have let you on without you having to adopt a disguise," Harry said with a smile. "I'm a bit more understanding than he is. How's your head?"

She winced. "Fine, I think."

Harry got to his feet and reached out his hand to help her to her feet. She took it. Harry noticed that it was very soft. When she'd been standing only a few moments, she nearly crumpled into Harry's arms.

"Oh, boy," he said, holding her by the elbows. "I think you hit your head pretty hard, there. Let's get you to my quarters so you can rest, alright? I don't think you have a concussion, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

She nodded, keeping her eyes closed as Harry laced an arm around her waist. He helped her to her room, where he had her laid down in his bed. She was asleep in minutes.

…

She was still asleep several hours later, and Harry couldn't help but stare at her. She was gorgeous. Her skin was very pale, like both Bellatrix and Snape, and she had her mother's crazy curly hair. He could see that she had Snape's eyes, though they were very blue and not black like he had. She had his lips as well. As much as he hated her mother, Lily Jane really was quite possibly the most beautiful girl Harry had ever met.

Shaking his head, he returned to the deck, where the men were working to turn the ship in the right direction. They couldn't just turn back around as Harry had hoped. They had to sail clean around a giant boulder in the middle of the ocean, which would take them quite a bit of time. With a sigh, Harry turned to head to the kitchen for his supper.

He was distracted by what he knew to be Hermione's patronus gliding through the water. It jumped up on deck to relay its message.

Harry nodded. Then he turned to the men, who had all heard the information.

"Alright, men!" He called. "You heard her! Head for the Isla de Esmeralda."

After he quieted the little bit of protesting that was inevitable, Harry headed to the bow, where he watched the water pass by. He felt a bit guilty. Yes, he was dating Ginny, and yes, he loved her…but Lily Jane was just so…perfect.

He shook his head. He'd only just met her. How could he be feeling this way so soon? He shouldn't be. He really shouldn't be.

Well, this was turning out to be quite an adventure, wasn't it?

…

The Previous Night

…

Hermione jumped nearly a foot in the air at the sound of someone coming near her. She looked over her shoulder and sighed.

"It's you," she said, trying to slow down her heart. She offered up an awkward smile. "It's…ahem…It's a beautiful night. Look at all the stars…"

Draco looked absently up at the sky, but didn't say anything.

"I guess it's really cleared up since the storm passed," she went on, not exactly knowing what she should say, since she really didn't know their relationship status at the moment. What was she supposed to say? "The weather's really nice, too." She mentally slapped herself. Really? The weather? "I guess that happens after a storm, huh? I wonder if there'll be any more. You think?"

Draco smirked. "You talk a lot."

Hermione blushed deep scarlet and looked back out at the ocean. "Sorry," she muttered.

Draco shook his head. "It's not a bad thing, I suppose. Just sort of funny."

She looked at him and narrowed her brow. "Funny? How?"

"You're so awkward."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry if I don't know what to say! I don't exactly know where we stand at the moment, and the weather was really the only thing I knew we had to talk about! Or did you want to just stand here awkwardly in silence?"

He only shrugged.

Hermione made a sound in the back of her throat and threw up her hands. She shook her head and rested her arms on the railing, leaning out over the water. What was with this boy?

"I'm sorry for kissing you at the Final Battle."

Hermione blinked and looked at him. "Why are you sorry?"

Draco hoped she couldn't see his blush in the dark. "I shouldn't have kissed you so suddenly and then just run off. It wasn't right. But I wasn't sure I would ever see you again, and I just…"

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "Think nothing of it. I mean, we were all doing pretty rash things that day. Ron practically proposed."

Draco winced. "You're – er – you're still going out with him?"

Hermione shrugged. "I mean…I guess so…but I don't know. Sometimes I feel like we're only dating because everyone expected us to, rather than because we want to."

Draco made a face. "That's no way to live. I should know. I've spent my entire life living the way other people expect me to."

"Speaking of which," Hermione replied, trying to turn the conversation from herself. "You left the battle. No one's heard from you since. And then…you showed up and saved me in the Department of Mysteries? What were you doing? Whose side are you on?"

Draco's face closed as he turned to look back out at the water. "I'm making my own side."

"And that involves saving me?"

"Saving you was an accident. I only happened upon you and felt it would be wrong to let you die."

"Then why were you there?"

"I was making my own way."

Hermione glared. "Which means? You jumped pretty quick on this when we said we were taking down the death eaters. Is that what this is? Do you have any information on the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

Hermione waited for more. "Is that all I'm going to get?"

Draco said nothing.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." She shook her head, yawned, and stretched. "Well, it's really late. I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Draco. I hope you sort everything out in that mind of yours soon so I can actually have a conversation with you sometime."

With that, she left. As soon as she was downstairs, Draco groaned and slammed his head onto the railing. He left the deck to the sound of drunken laughter from the three men whose advice he had failed to take.

…

Whoop! There's chapter eight, and things are picking up! ^^ I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you did – it makes me super glad to know you like what I'm doing.