After Draco had scanned the horizon of trees pressed up against the beach and was thoroughly convinced that they hadn't been followed by the devious inhabitants of the forest – at least for now – he headed back up to the ship – the one which, he noted, Hermione had decided to name The Constellation. He decided it was probably a good idea to take up his position as look out once again – anything could happen, especially on these waters, and he didn't want it on him that the sailors were without fair warning if anything were to happen.

So he returned to the ship. He shimmied up the mizzen mast and made his way to the foretop, where the lookout he had relieved had been scanning the horizon intently. Before he'd left, he'd said that he thought he had spotted something off in the distance, but it had been too difficult to see in the dark, and had implored Draco to keep a wary eye out.

Draco wished he would have.

He cursed Hermione for making him leave his spot. Because now there was going to be trouble.

He carefully and strategically dropped from up above and dashed below decks to the Captain's quarters. He didn't care that, under normal circumstances, no one was allowed into the Captain's quarters – all that mattered now was the large ship headed for them, the one that could hold any number of people. The number, of course, didn't matter when it came down to the fact that they had three full crews – what mattered was the side these impending visitors were on.

Draco pushed through the door, hearing a crack! as he broke the lock right off of the wooden door. Hermione spun around, completely startled, holding her shirt in front of her naked body. Draco was frozen for a moment before he came to his senses and turned around respectfully.

"There's a ship," he said, perfectly calmly. "Come up when you're decent."

Hermione pushed passed him, somehow, miraculously, already completely dressed in her leggings and oversized, button up white shirt. She'd even slipped on her boots in the short time Draco had been stunned. In one hand she had her telescope, in the other a cutlass. She had made it halfway up the stairs when she turned to Draco, eyebrows raised.

"Are you coming or what?" she demanded to know before she turned without waiting for an answer, quickly ascending the staircase.

Draco shook his head and composed himself, also running up the stairs.

"All hands on deck!" Hermione shouted. "Prepare for anything!"

"Hermione?" Harry said, coming up from below deck of his own ship, calling across the small gap between the Constellation and the Ginny. "Hermione, what's going on?"

Hermione was peering through her telescope. And there it was, just as Draco had said. And there was a figure standing at the front of the ship, long hair whipping in the wind.

The person wasn't familiar, but it was still too soon to breathe a sigh of relief. Not only were these waters infested with pirates, but they were infested with pirates who knew of the Black Family Treasure, and would be willing to do anything to get rid of the competition.

To answer Harry's question, she lowered her telescoped and pointed with her cutlass to the oncoming ship.

Harry slowly turned to take in the oncoming ship, his jaw dropping. Then he shook his head, his hair, tousled from sleep, flopping into his eyes. "All hands on deck!" he shouted, scrambling for the staircase, for all the world looking like a chicken with its head cut off.

As Harry slipped below deck, still bellowing orders, Hermione turned to Neville, who had come up beside her and was staring solemnly out at the ship across the ocean. "Get weapons to all of the men."

He nodded. "What will you do?"

She looked around at all of the men who were rushing about and knew just exactly what she was supposed to do. "I'm the captain, aren't I?" she said. "I'm going to fight."

Neville nodded. He knew fighting with her about this would be ridiculous. And she had fought braver than anyone else in the final battle not too long ago – she was an outstanding fighter. He should have been worried for the other pirates.

The first blow was shot – a sailor on Harry's ship toppled over from what appeared to be a weak form of the cruciatus curse. It still hurt, no matter how weak, and the man stood up in an unspeakable rage. He locked onto his target and fired, blowing an enormous hole into the side of the ship. The hole, however, was too high up to do any proper damage besides knocking over the men on top and perhaps harming a few below deck. Hermione fired the next shot, managing to blast two or three men off of the ship and setting one of the sails on fire.

The fight was on. The pirate ship really was no match for the three fully manned ships, and the battle ended quickly. The ship was in pieces and floated to the shore. The waves brought pieces of wood, stolen treasures and dead and injured men alike.

Hermione walked among the men. Anyone who had died she straightened out their bodies and placed protective charms upon, to be sure that the cannibals stayed away. Anyone still alive she knocked out long enough so they could finish repairs and set off again.

She found the Captain alive and took him into her tent for questioning with Neville as backup. She soon found he was basically incompetent and thought that the treasure was just that – treasure. He knew nothing of the black magic and how terrible it would be if it fell into the wrong hands.

She wiped his memory and let him go gather his remaining crew members so they could figure something out.

She and Neville shared a drink and marvelled over their great luck – not a single of their men had been injured during the battle. Everyone was well again, even the man who had been shot at first, and, at the rate their reparations were going at, they would be off of the Isla de Esmeralda before nightfall.

Hermione leaned back in her chair, her gaze trained on the wine in her half-full glass. It was very good wine, very expensive. She'd found it in one of the many chests that had washed up on shore. She had found many riches, and split it up amongst the crew. She felt like a real pirate. She smiled to herself.

She heard Neville chuckle and looked up, a fresh smile on her lips. "What?"

"I was going to ask you that," he said as he poured himself some more wine. "What was that smile about?"

Hermione shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what a strange turn my life has taken."

He raised his eyebrows. "How so?"

"Well," she said, setting aside her wine glass. "Just think. I mean, if my life were how I had imagined it would be when I was still back in first year, I'd have completed my seventh year of Hogwarts and I'd be a healer or working at the ministry. But now it looks like I'm a pirate. I never would have guessed."

Neville laughed. "Life is funny sometimes. Who'd have guessed I'd be the one to get married first of all of our friends?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're not giving yourself enough credit."

"Neither are you," Neville replied.

Hermione raised her eyebrows now. "Oh?"

"The life you planned out was simply just too boring for you," he said with a shrug. "So Merlin stepped in and made everything right again."

Hermione smiled. "I think you might be right about that."

Neville downed the rest of his wine. Then he stood and motioned to Hermione before he set down his glass. "I'm not often wrong. I'll see you in the morning."

Hermione smiled and hugged him when he hugged her, then glanced down at her desk. She heard talking outside the door, but ignored it. Her eyes had found something new – a journal she had found in a vault that had been bashed open against a reef.

It must have been the Captain's – it was simple, beautiful, bound in leather. The first page was dated with today's date, but there were no entries. And according to the several searching spells she had used on it, it was just an ordinary journal. Perfect for Hermione to begin recording her strange new life.

She searched her desk for a quill and some ink and was about to begin her very first entry, when someone burst through the door.

"Lily Jane is missing."

Hermione was startled. She pressed herself back into her chair and stared in fear at the man in front of her. When she realised it was only Draco, she sighed in relief and sat up straight.

"Pardon?"

Draco was having none of it. "Lily Jane. She's missing. We have to find her."

"Who?"

Draco snarled at her. "I'll go look for her myself if you're going to be so utterly useless."

Hermione, enraged at how rude he was being, got to her feet. "Excuse me, but I'm sorry if you're too stupid to explain your problem to me. I'll help you find your friend. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Before the battle. She was with Madge in her tent." Hermione was having difficulty following him, both because of his long strides and the fact that she had no idea who these people were.

"Who's Madge?"

"The other girl you guys let on," Draco replied.

"Where's Madge?"

"Probably with Lily Jane," Draco responded. "I can't find her either."

"Draco, will you stop for a minute?"

He turned around fast, towering over her. "I will not."

Hermione wanted to tell him that she had merely wanted him to pause so they could come up with an actual plan or put together a search party, but her tongue was suddenly frozen and her heart had stopped. Her body didn't begin working again until his fierce eyes had turned off of her face and he began his quick pace again. She tried to keep up with him on her wobbly knees, wondering what had come over her.

...

That…took me way too long to write…

Well, next I plan on updating Romeo and Cinderella, so my followers of that story, check it out when it's done! ^^