And here is chapter 4. I can't believe I'm actually this far in….

I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. Exams and stuff got in the way. Luckily, however, my exams finish this Friday (Yay!), and after that I have a couple of weeks of NOTHING! Therefore, I'll be able to write a good bit more… hopefully!

Erm… I forgot to mention, last chapter, when I said there'd be romance? It's gonna be MUCH later! I mean, Harry's going to be here for quite a while (i.e., years!) He's going to be a lot older when the romance kicks in, don't worry about that!

Also, this is after POTC 3. I know it mightn't be that clear now, but parts of it will be more important later (the Flying Dutchman and its captain will be making an appearance, for instance!)

Heh, and I know I can't really write Jack. He just doesn't come naturally to me, for some reason. Ah well- looks like I'm going to have to watch the films another few times! (What a sacrifice, eh? XD).

(Also, one of my best friends, CREATIVITY-ANGEL-GIRL, sometimes helps me with Jack. However, she doesn't write POTC or HP fics (;.;), but Instant Star. So if you're in any way familiar with that show, go read her fics. Please. I don't watch it, but I think her fics are great anyway…)

Disclaimer: I do not own POTC or Harry Potter. I wish I did, but I don't.

HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC

Jack said that the voyage to the island would take a few weeks, maybe more, if they had difficulty finding it.

There had to be someone awake on board 24 hours a day, in case another ship approached or land became visible. Because of this, Harry stayed up late and watched until early morning, and then Jack would take over. This meant Harry slept in every morning and Jack went to bed early, but they still had a few hours together. They ate together, and Jack continued teaching Harry how to swordfight. He was slowly improving, even if Harry hadn't realised it yet. Jack also started teaching Harry other things that sailors have to know, like many different types of knots and how to steer the ship. For Harry, the days passed quickly. They had plenty of food and little danger of running out, since there was only the two of them.

There had also been a supply of rum on board, and Jack had introduced Harry to "The drink of the Gods!" as he called it. Harry had tried it. He didn't mind the taste, but he didn't want to drink too much. He was still only eleven, after all. (Mind you, Harry knew for a fact that Dudley had gotten drunk nearly every Friday night over the last summer!).

And so the days passed quickly. Harry felt himself becoming closer and closer to Jack over the weeks. He came to see Jack as a very good friend. Jack came to see Harry in the same way.

It was one day much like the previous ones when Jack had just taught Harry a new sword fighting move, when Harry thought he spotted something in the distance. He froze and Jack in an instant had his sword next to his neck.

"Jack, what's that?"

Jack spun round and his sword clattered to the deck. His hand instantly went to a pocket and pulled out his compass. He stared at it, and grinned.

"We've found it!"

After that, it was a blur of activity. The island was still a few hours away, but there was a lot to do. Harry and Jack rushed around, gathering supplies, knives, ropes, and a small barrel and a few empty flasks each so that they could bring some of the water back.

Eventually they were ready. Jack anchored the ship safely, and then they rowed a small boat out to the island. They put all their things in their barrels and tied them to their backs. It was uncomfortable, but bearable and far easier than carrying all the stuff. Harry made sure to keep his wand in a pocket, though, and noticed Jack doing the same with his pistol. They also kept their swords by their sides… just in case!

Jack led the way into the dense vegetation, slashing down plants that crossed their way. Harry tried to keep up.

"Can you tell me more about this fountain?" he asked.

"First of all, it's not actually really a fountain. I think I said before, it's a spring. Ye drink the water, ye don't die. Easy as that, really."

"But, you said something- the effects wearing off?"

"Well, yeah. A few mouthfuls will keep ye, well, not-dying, for a few weeks. After that, ye can be killed. So you'll need to take a sip every few weeks to remain really, truly immortal. If ye don't drink it after a few weeks, you won't be immortal anymore, but you won't be mortal, really, either. You'll just be a lot more difficult to kill. This keeps fading away 'til about a year after ye've drunk it, 'til yer back to normal."

"Oh, right." Harry still felt a bit confused, but it was clearer than it had been.

"Also," Jack continued, "drinking it means ye can't feel pain as much. It'll still be there, but not as sore. It makes ye heal faster too, but it'll still scar. And they fade away too, over time. So ye really need to keep drinking the stuff. That's why we've got the flasks and barrels. We can't come back here every week or two. Just not practical."

Harry nodded, even though Jack probably couldn't see him.

"A while back- you mentioned traps?"

"Yeah. S'posed to be some around somewhere. 'Course, I have no idea what they are, or where they're at, or what they'll do. Legend only goes so far, y'know…"

And no sooner had those words left his mouth, Jack disappeared.

Harry jumped. He walked forwards carefully and looked at the ground. Jack hadn't really disappeared; he'd fallen through a hidden trapdoor. Harry crouched down and looked over the rim. Jack had fallen quite a few metres.

"Jack? You okay?" he called.

"Oof!" came the reply. "Yep, I'm fine. Bit sore though. And I can't see a way out- just up. I'll need a hand. Can you tie a rope to something and lower it down?"

"Yeah," said Harry. He un-strapped his barrel from his bag, popped off the lid and dug around for his rope. After finding it, he went to the nearest tree and used one of the knots that Jack had taught him to tie the rope to it. He gave it a few tugs, until he was satisfied that it wasn't going to come loose, and then tossed the other end down to Jack. It just reached. Jack grabbed it and hoisted himself up.

Once at the top, Jack paused to catch his breath, sitting down on the grass.

"That wasn't too bad," remarked Harry.

"It wouldn't have been as easy if there had only been one of us, would it? Or if we didn't have any ropes? And it isn't going to stay that easy, either. That was just a taster."

"…Oh."

"I concur. Now, le's keep going."

They trekked through the dense vegetation for another hour or so. By now, it was a little darker, and Harry sensed that it was only another few hours to sunset. They had to hurry.

Jack stopped suddenly and Harry managed to stop just in time.

"What's up?"

"Did ye hear anythin'?"

Harry listened carefully. He could indeed hear a crashing sound ahead of them. It reminded Harry of the troll he and Ron had fought.

Jack and Harry crept forward slowly, and Jack looked through a big plant.

"Oh, bugger," he said.

Harry peeked through the leaves. Jack had got it in one.

What was ahead of them looked a bit like a troll, but Harry knew it wasn't one. It was much bigger, about the height of a three-storey building, and a greenish colour, with big ears, huge, staring eyes and a mouth that Harry had no doubt could swallow him whole.

Actually, come to think of it, 'Oh bugger' was a little bit of an understatement…

"How're we going to get past this?" Harry asked Jack out of the corner of his mouth.

"No idea." Jack smiled. Harry stared at him, and then shrugged. He was used to Jack by now. He gave his attention back to the problem at hand.

How the heck were they going to get past this thing?

"Do you even know what it is?" asked Harry, watching the… thing… batter a nearby tree with a club. The tree looked like it was about to fall down, and most of the leaves and branches had already deserted it.

"'Course I do!" replied Jack. "It's an ogre… I think. Probably. Most likely."

An ogre. Great. It was pretty much a bigger, uglier, and most likely more dangerous version of a troll. That was just brilliant. Things could not possibly get any worse.

Harry would look back later, and remember that moment as the time when things got distinctly worse.

Jack took a step back and somehow managed to crash into a bush right behind him, creating a huge racket. The ogre's huge ears picked up the noise, and it turned and effortlessly swept away the plant Harry and Jack had been hiding behind. It stared down at them, at least five or six times Harry's height.

"Oh, bugger," said Harry.

"Run!" said Jack.

Harry darted between the ogre's huge legs and Jack ran around them. The ogre, confused as to why its prey had disappeared, spun round after them. It got angry. Why were they annoying it?

Jack dived for shelter in a bigger bush with quite a few thorns, and Harry ran. The beast decided not to bother hurting its hand with thorns, and lumbered after Harry. Harry was quite a fast runner, but his legs were like matchsticks compared to the ogre's, and it caught up quickly. Harry ducked behind a tree and it crashed onwards before it realised that the thing he'd been following had vanished again. It turned and spotted Harry up against a tree. He raised his club, the length of a lamppost and as wide as a car.

Harry was trapped. This had never been how he'd pictured dying. Ending up as ogre food. He remembered Ron and Hermione, and pulled out his wand. He said the first spell that came into his head.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew out of the ogre's hand and into the air. It looked up. The club fell and hit the ogre over the head with a crash.

Harry stared. Thank you Ron! That was pretty much exactly the same as what had happened at Halloween.

As Harry thanked his lucky stars for Ron Weasley's rescue techniques, Jack, having heard the crash, ran to Harry and nearly managed to run into the ogre, not having expected to find it lying motionless on the ground.

"Wha' happened?"

"I knocked it out!"

"I noticed. How?!"

"Spell I learnt in school."

Jack stared. "Your school teaches you how to knock out gigantic beasties?"

"No. My school taught me how to make things fly."

"Oh. Right." Jack didn't ask any more questions, so Harry thought he'd figured out what had happened.

"I dunno how long this dude's out for, though. What're we going to do with him?"

Jack drew his sword.

"Only one thing we can do, really," he said, "Don't want to come back through and find this guy awake and angry."

He raised his sword, and in one swipe, he cut off the ogre's head.

Harry turned away. He felt rather sick after seeing that. Jack put his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Had to be done, kid. Otherwise it'd have got us on the way back."

Harry looked up at Jack and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I have to be particularly happy with it, though. It was kinda… bloody."

Jack looked down at him. His eyes were kind. "Had to be, Harry. And, if it makes ye feel any better, it didn't feel anything. Now, we've gotta keep going."

Harry nodded resolutely. He knew it was necessary, and he knew he'd get over it. He just wasn't used to seeing things like that.

Jack led the way forward through the trees. Harry couldn't help wondering if whatever they would face next would be worse than the ogre. Harry couldn't imagine anything being worse! He would have been killed back there if he hadn't had his wand with him.

For the first time, Harry realised the full extent of what he had gotten himself into.

Harry and Jack walked and walked for another few hours, until the sun sank below the horizon. Jack came to a stop in a small clearing.

"We'd better stop for the night. Bad thing if we walked straight into another trap, just because we couldn't see it."

Harry wholeheartedly agreed. He was getting very tired anyway. He unstrapped his barrel from his back and sat down on the grass.

"We'd better take turns as lookout," Jack said. "I'll go first, and I'll wake ye up in a couple of hours. Then ye wake me at first light, and we'll head off again."

Harry nodded. He took a flask of water out of his pocket and had a drink, then leaned against a tree, falling asleep almost immediately.

HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC HPCC

And there is chapter four completed. I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all my reviewers, because every single time I read a review, I get totally high on them.

Please keep reviewing!

'Til next time!