Well, here's chapter nine. This is the longest fanfics I've ever written, and I don't think we're even near halfway yet!

…Actually, I have no idea how many chapters there are going to be overall. I know what's going to happen, though…

A huge thank-you to all my reviewers!

EDIT: Ok guys, I made a HUGE booboo! I accidentally put C10 up instead of C9! This is the replacement... I am REALLY, REALLY, sorry!

Oh, and I'll be going on holidays for a week now, so don't expect any more updates...

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It seemed to take forever, but eventually Harry dozed off.

He was woken the next morning by his cell door opening. Harry looked up and saw his guards entering. They grabbed him and chained his wrists.

It was time.

Harry was led out of the cell and through endless corridors out into the sun. He blinked, his eyes unused to the brightness after hours in his dark cell.

There was a rather large crowd already. Did all these people turn up just to see someone die?

He was led through the crowd, which parted ahead of them and gave a wide berth. Harry wondered if it was because of him or his guards. He actually rather hoped it was him.

Then Harry saw it up ahead. The noose. What was going to happen suddenly seemed frighteningly real, and Harry didn't much like the idea of standing up there with the executioner and having the entire town watch him die. He gulped.

He followed his guards up to the gallows. Harry knew he must be as pale as a sheet, despite his tan. He tried to keep confident. He wasn't going to die. He was going to escape. Harry chanted those statements inside his head and tried to calm down. It would all be over soon.

Harry was pushed up the steps to the noose. The executioner grabbed his shoulder and dragged him the rest of the steps. The guards stayed at the bottom. Harry gave them a little wave, which was difficult with tied hands. They ignored him and spread out around the gallows, just to make sure he didn't escape. Harry thought that Gillette and Willis might be going slightly overboard – after all, he was a rather scrawny thirteen year old!

Harry remembered suddenly that today was his birthday. He looked at the executioner, with his covered face. Some birthday this was turning out to be!

The executioner positioned Harry under the noose. He was too short for it to reach properly. Harry shook his head slightly. Who set this thing up? Would it have been too hard just to lengthen the rope?

A crate was slammed down in front of Harry, and the executioner lifted Harry none-too-gently onto it. It was the perfect height- the noose was now staring Harry in the face.Harry in the face.

Another man climbed the steps up to the platform. He unrolled a scroll of parchment and, in a loud clear voice, began:

"We are gathered to witness the death of a pirate, on this day, the thirty-first of July, in the year of 1733. This pirate, son of infamous pirate Jack Sparrow-"

"Captain Jack Sparrow!" muttered Harry

"- has committed crimes which are listed henceforth. Master Sparrow, let it be known that you have committed these crimes: murder of agents of the Royal Navy, many known instances of piracy, consorting with known pirates, knowingly concealing vital information, aiding and abetting a pirate, and general lawlessness."

"That all?" mumbled Harry sarcastically

"For these crimes, you have been sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul." With that, he re-scrolled his scroll and hurriedly retreated down into the crowd.

For the first time, Harry noticed a drum roll. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it before now. Probably something to do with the fact he was rather preoccupied with his upcoming death.

The executioner positioned the rope around Harry's neck and slowly walked back to the lever at the side. Or, at least, Harry thought he was walking slowly. Maybe he was just seeing everything in slow-motion. As he reached it, he reached out, grasped the end and pulled.

The wooden floor disappeared from under Harry's feet, and he fell. The rope around his neck pulled taut. He heard a sickening crack, and then the world went black.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

On his ship, Jack suddenly got a very bad feeling. Goosebumps rose on his arms and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. And in the middle of the Caribbean, that was odd, to say the least.

Something had happened to Harry. Jack glared at the horizon, and willed the ship to go faster. Was he too late?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sirius was taken to an interrogation room not far from his cell. He was sat down in a chair with chains around the back, armrests and legs. No sooner was he down than they began moving, and wrapped themselves around him. Sirius didn't protest- anything was better than being trapped in his cell, and he was grateful for the break in the monotony.

Dumbledore and Fudge sat opposite him, and the aurors were standing about the room too- some flanking him, some by Dumbledore and Fudge, and some by the door. The auror to his left pulled out a small vial of a colourless liquid and Sirius recognised it as Veritaserum. He obediently opened his mouth and the auror spilled three drops onto his tongue. The interrogation began.

"What is your full name?" asked Fudge

"Sirius Orion Black," said Sirius' mouth, apparently without any input from his brain whatsoever.

"Do you know of any death eater hideouts that may still be in use?"

"No."

Fudge swore.

"Do you know of any death eater hideouts at all?" he asked.

"No."

"What?" exploded Fudge. "You were a Death Eater, were you not? You betrayed the Potters! How do you not know of ANY hideouts?"

"I was never a Death Eater," said Sirius' mouth calmly. Sirius' head, however, was anything but calm. Wild hope blossomed throughout him for the first time in over ten years. They were finally going to find out the truth! He was going to be set free!

There was silence in the cell for a full fifteen seconds.

Then the aurors started shouting. Fudge stood up and started yelling too. The chaos only stopped when Dumbledore released several fireworks from his wand. The aurors looked ashamed of themselves and went back to their positions, some still muttering. Fudge collapsed back into his chair. Dumbledore took one look at him and decided to continue the questioning himself.

"Have you ever, at any point in time, joined or considered joining Voldemort?"

Fudge and the aurors flinched, but Sirius and Dumbledore did not.

"No, never."

Dumbledore smiled, and then frowned.

"Were you the secret-keeper for the Potters?"

"No. I persuaded Lily and James to change it at the last minute. The secret-keeper was Peter Pettigrew. We didn't tell anyone, not even Remus. It was to be the perfect ruse. Voldemort would come after me, thinking I was the secret-keeper. Peter would simply lie low for a while."

"Peter Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James?"

"Yes."

"Did you kill him on the morning of November first?"

"No. I intended to. I had him cornered, but he started shouting. He accused me of betraying Lily and James. He drew his wand before me, and cut off his finger. The then blew up the street, transformed into his animagus form and escaped. I was blamed."

"Peter Pettigrew is an animagus?!"

"Yes. He's a rat. He escaped down a drainpipe."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, smiling. Fudge had listened to the tale with disbelief. Was the Veritaserum working? Yes, it was, because he had used it on another prisoner not that long ago. Black had been in Azkaban for the past ten years, he couldn't possibly have had the strength to block the effects of it.

Fudge was, for the second time ever, totally and utterly shocked speechless. In the silent room, he took a few seconds to gather his wits again.

"Well!" he said, trying to smile, "That certainly is a shock, isn't it?"

Well duh, said Sirius' mind. "Yes," said his mouth.

Fudge looked at him. "Oh, yes! Yes! Still under the effects of Veritaserum, aren't you? Parker! Fetch this man the antidote, will you? Good, good!" Fudge tittered.

Parker returned with the antidote after a few seconds and administered it silently. Sirius blinked. He could control his mouth again. He looked up at the minister and Dumbledore.

"Now that we're all nicely reacquainted, would someone please untie me?"

"Oh, yes, yes, sorry, Mr Black!" said Fudge, very quickly. He hurried around the table, raised his wand and tapped it against the chains binding Sirius. He then helped Sirius up, and started apologising.

"I'm dreadfully sorry for what the ministry has put you through, Mr Black! I mean, no trial! How reprehensible! Oh, if only I was in charge back then, but alas, I was not. However, please accept my most sincere apologies! I shall arrange to have compensation awarded to you, my good man. And we'll find you a place to stay-"

Sirius stopped him with a wave of his hand. He addressed both Fudge and Dumbledore. "I'll be fine. What's happened Harry?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Elizabeth Turner wove through the crowd. Her son was at the manor- she'd assigned a maid to look after him while she went out. She'd heard a rumour last night about what was going to happen today, and she wanted to check it out.

She had been out doing her shopping yesterday with young William, when she'd heard other women gossiping. Normally she wouldn't pay any attention to that sort of thing, but a phrase had jumped out at her.

"...Sparrow's son..."

She'd slowed down to catch what they were saying. The other women had noticed her at that point, and smiled at doted over her son. She'd known them, of course- they had been living in Port Royal as long as she had, even after her disappearance for a while a few years ago. When she'd come back, she'd moved back into her old home and taken over her father's job. It hadn't mattered that she was a known pirate – most of the townsfolk hadn't known anyway, and those that did welcomed her back in place of Cutler Beckett- even the rest of the Navy. The power of the East India trading company was much diminished now anyway, and she didn't have anything to worry about from them.

She'd stopped and chatted with the women, and once they'd finished admiring little Will, she asked them about 'Sparrow's son'.

"Oh yes!" One of them had said excitedly, "We just heard! You remember Jack Sparrow, you must, he threatened you once, didn't he? Well, his son has just been arrested! They caught him on some other island somewhere, the East India trading company did, and brought him back here! He's a pirate too, you know. They say he was caught with Jack Sparrow himself, but they couldn't bring both of them in!"

At this point, Will had started fidgeting and whining. Elizabeth had shushed him, and asked them, "I didn't know he even had a son!"

"No-one did, that's the point! There were rumours, you know, that there'd been someone sailing with him recently, youngish and looked a lot like him, but nobody really knew anything 'til today!"

"What's going to happen to him?" Elizabeth had asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" another woman had said, "They're going to hang him! Good riddance to him, I say, and same to all pirates! The execution's going to be at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, up at the fort, same place as usual. We're going to go and see. After all, ain't often you see a caught Sparrow!" She'd laughed.

By then Will had started fussing even more, and she'd had to go.

Elizabeth hoped that he'd be alright with the maid. Emily was good with him, but Elizabeth thought that the four-year-old was coming down with something. He'd been acting up a lot lately, and never seemed to be in good form.

And so here she was, at the Fort. She preferred to mix with the crowd today, rather than stand up at the top. She didn't want to have as much notice drawn to her. The crowd was very thick – evidently everyone had turned up to see a Sparrow hang.

She eventually managed to get relatively close to the gallows. She was torn- she couldn't let Jack's child just die! She knew that Jack wouldn't do that to her or to either her husband or her son. But she knew, full well, that she couldn't save him. She'd entertained some ideas on her way here, but now that she'd arrived, she knew it was impossible. Sparrow Junior was already up on the gallows- and guards surrounded the platform. Elizabeth looked at it, and, no matter how much she wished differently, there was just no possible way!

She watched as another man climbed up to read the charges. She didn't want to listen, but her ears tuned in anyway.

"...son of infamous Pirate Jack Sparrow..."

She looked the boy, and nearly smiled despite herself when he muttered "Captain Jack Sparrow!"

"...murder of agents of the Royal Navy..."

Elizabeth studied him. He didn't look especially capable of murder. Mind you, neither did she, so she wasn't really one to talk!

Elizabeth took in his appearance- his simple clothes that were a bit too big, his long black hair that was tied back and his absolutely stunning green eyes. She focused on his right wrist, and saw the makeshift bandage that was wound around it. Her eyes widened slightly- she'd seen the mark on Jack's wrist, but they couldn't have done the same to his son, could they? He wasn't even that old!

"...God have mercy upon your soul."

The little man practically ran from the platform. Elizabeth frowned. Why was he so scared of him? Was it simply because he was a Sparrow?

Elizabeth never took her eyes off Sparrow as the executioner pulled a lever and the trapdoor opened.

She saw him fall, and heard the sickening crack. That was his neck breaking, she knew. She felt sick- she had just stood and watched as the son of a friend died!

She watched soldiers remove the body as the crowd dispersed. She wouldn't let Jack's son be strung up by the port, like all the other pirates captured. She owed that, at least, to Jack. She followed the soldiers from a distance. She knew what she had to do.

She followed them through the fort, trying her best to keep quiet. It wasn't the end of the world if they saw her – after all, she was Governess of Port Royal now that her father was dead, but she didn't want to have awkward questions asked of her. The soldiers had stopped now. She could hear their voices; though not make out when they were saying. She ducked into an alcove until they'd passed again, and then walked silently down to where they'd left the body.

It was a few minutes until she found him, as she checked every room that she passed. He was in a small courtyard, and she saw a gate that led out to the beach. That was good- she wouldn't have to take him back through the fort. Why had they left him here, though? She decided it must just be a holding place, until someone was available to take him away.

The magnitude of what she was going to do suddenly hit her. Where was she going to take him? Her manor? How was she going to get him there without being seen?

However, Elizabeth Turner had never been one to shy away from a challenge, and she knew she'd accomplish it somehow.

She couldn't stay here, though. It was too open, and there were windows in the wall behind her. She would be seen if she stayed here much longer. She walked over to the gate, set in the wall. It was locked from this side, and only designed so that it would be impossible to open from the outside. From the inside, however, it was quite easy to open.

She stuck her head out and was relieved to find it led to a relatively sheltered cove. She knew where she was in relation to the rest of the town, even though she had never been here before, and it was a relief. She turned and went back to Sparrow.

After a quick look about to doubly make sure she was alone, Elizabeth grasped the body under his arms and pulled. He was light, which was good. It took a few minutes, but she eventually got him out onto the sand. She closed the gate behind her.

Elizabeth now realised that she had no idea what to do next. She reached out and touched the boy's face, and then noticed something very unusual.

He was still warm.

She pulled her hand back in shock. That wasn't possible, was it? After all, he was dead. Wasn't he?

She tentatively reached out again, and felt his neck. What she felt there shocked her further- it just wasn't possible! She'd seen the boy die- heard his neck break.

So how come she could feel a pulse?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Well, that's another chapter done! This was rather hard to write, I'm afraid, as I've never written a death scene before.

Although, I must say I enjoyed writing Sirius and Fudge! And I've introduced Elizabeth! Will (Senior!) won't be making an appearance yet, though, but rest assured he will show up sooner or later!

Here's hoping I'll have the next chapter up soon, but I want to warn you, I'm going on holidays for a week on the 13th, and I definitely won't be able to write! (The day after I come back is probably out too- Deathly Hallows!) But I'll try and put as many things up as I can, as soon as I can!

'Til next time!