(A/N All Harry Potter characters belong to JKR I'm just having fun with them)

Chapter 20

Barns slowly crept through the darkness; his instincts telling him tonight would be a night of violence. He had learned to listen to and trust his gut feelings; they had saved his life on more than one occasion. Earlier, he had donned his armor, made of dragon hide; and his battle robes sewn with runes to lessen spell effects. He moved from shadow to shadow letting the pouring rain roll off him, keeping alert and trying to stay patient, fighting the thrill he felt at the pending threat, real or imagined. He saw Ian and Xo weaving spells, and riddling the camp with runes.

Annalisa paced nervously; she should have been with Bill, not sitting still while others risked themselves. She could have helped, not to mention she hated the wait. Looking over at her young sister, she realized she wasn't the only one who didn't like waiting.

"You worry about him? Me too, but they are good, they handled the Temple well."

"What I... Yeah I worry about... all of them, and us too. Barns has his armor on." Annalisa took a moment to just look at her sister. She could read her like an open book, always could. She had watched the feelings developing, she had dropped hints that no good could come of it. Yet it still had happened, even though Belle had fought to keep her feelings to herself. Young Harry had his path laid out before him, and Belle had hers. The paths diverged soon, going separate ways-perhaps never to merge again. Just watching took Annalisa back in time; she was married to a man who was a brute, and her lover had been forced to walk away. She never found him again, even though she had looked after she was widowed. Her sister's cough brought her back to the present.

"I know how you feel Belle, trust me I do, but remember that Jean is a good man."

"I know, but he is also the only man I've ever known."

"At least he is a kind man. I know it's hard, and in your place I probably would give in myself, but you need to know it can't last," Annalisa paused. "I wouldn't want him to be hurt by this, either of them."

"It's true Jean is a good man, and as you know, I learned at twelve I was to wed him; at the time he was a cavalier come to whisk me away. Then as I grew older, I felt the bitterness of it all, wanting to experience what my friends were, but I held myself back. I wanted to wait for marriage. Then last Christmas we had too much wine, and the waiting was all for naught, but I learned something. Something that hurt me: he hadn't waited. It took time, but I have come to understand why. After all, he is older than me by three years, so I was able to forgive him. I respect his dreams, and admire the man he could become; but just once, would it be wrong for me to want passion and romance? To experience that before I cannot anymore? My time is growing short."

Silence consumed them as Annalisa looked off into space, was she being too judgmental? She never finished her thoughts, as she felt the wards draw on her magic, someone had crossed the line. She smiled grimly, let them come. It would not be them who was taken by surprise.

Belle followed her sister out of their tent, seeing spell fire and pulling her wand. Enough was enough, her teeth gritted together in anger. She picked the first target she saw and sent a stream of hexes. Color flashed from her wand, the shield that should have stopped her spells crumpled. He was soon bound up and oozing green fluid, as she spun to face another foe. Part of her watched in awe as Barns plowed through the rabble like the trained warrior he was. These Raiders had no skill; they weren't fighters at all, just a mob of thugs. She put another down, looking around as Ian and Xo pulverized the few Raiders who had come in from behind. The wards they had erected after the first encounter were sapping the magic from any who weren't keyed in, causing their spells to fizzle out and pack little power. It was a deceptive tactic, pretending vulnerability. All in all the Raiders stood no chance.

She felt her wand suddenly snatched away, and a sharp poke in her neck. Denny's foul breath was on her cheek as he held her in front of him.

"I'm leaving now!" Denny shouted, "Don't do anything foolish." Everything was falling apart for him, after nearly ten years of raiding Cursebreakers this was to be the end.

Denny had failed before he even started, letting his magic be too sapped to Apparate away was his first mistake, and not noticing Alessandra coming out of her tent was the last. The brown light spell that hit him in the back worked as it had for all medical students, stopping his heart.

As their leader fell, the remaining Raiders fled, running for the cover of the jungle. Barns growled aloud and took chase, not listening to the shouts of Ian to hold his ground. Light from the camp soon fell away and it was dark, the moon behind clouds, with a steady patter of rain echoing off the broad-leafed plants around. Barns slowed, no longer hearing the Raiders rushing away, but aware that they were well with the Anti-Apparation wards.

He crept slowly, his booted feet squishing in the soft ground, his wand was up and held ready to defend or attack. A slight pop was heard as his foot crushed a small stick, he had very little warning as a spell light flew at him. One passed to his right, missing by inches; the second one he ducked, and as it flew past he swept his wand and let off a dark curse, causing a bolt of blue lighting to fly from his wand. He saw one Raider scream and fall in the light of the spell. Yellow spell light came streaking at him from behind, searing into his back, heavily scarring the dragon hide armor. He fell forward, face splattering in the mud, and noticed a parchment lying under the brush in front of him. Footsteps approached rapidly as he lay down in the mud. Timing it carefully, he rolled over, wand flashing; the Raider's eyes went wide as he realized his mistake. Barns picked up the parchment, and headed back to camp after taking the wands and a couple of coins off the bodies left in the mud.

HPCS~HPCS~HPCS

Drip, drip, drip...the noise lingered and echoed from hundreds of individual sounds reverberating down the wet hall Harry now walked. They were close to the lake bottom, the water leaking in being a good indication, and this had Owens's skin crawling.

"This is it guys, if there is any loot here, it's in this room, the preservation charms are very powerful." Bill announced, after spending the last half hour casting various unlocking charms.

Harry watched as the door slid open, revealing a well lit room, dry and clean. The water from the hall was vanishing as it ran into the room, most likely the only reason the place wasn't flooded. The room was made of the same type of stone as the hall, but smooth on the floor, and carved elegantly on the walls. Torches glowed brightly, showing the power of the wizard who had enchanted them, to be everlasting. Everything they found pointed to a particularly powerful and skilled wizard. This room was more than a store room; it was a study, or perhaps just a hideaway. Bill spent several minutes in the doorway scanning the room before entering. Seeing nothing amiss, he led the way in, pulling out their loot bags they began to fill them up. There was a chest full of the medallions they were searching for, there were also many gemstones and magical devices. The room was large and oval in shape. Several cowhide chairs were spaced by a large bookshelf, and just past was a dark wooden table with a wand on top, a wand Harry seemed drawn to. It was a work of art, made of a smooth polished dark wood, and with chased runes carved into the wood, it was very interesting. At the end of the handle was a gem stone, deep purple in color. He moved to pick it up, but Bill distracted him, pointing out the small library of books, there was a good deal of value in ancient spell books. Harry walked over, collecting some rings that were finely carved, off of an end table. They had nearly everything collected, except the wand that Harry had felt such an attraction to. Harry moved to get it, side stepping a leather sitting chair, and collecting another book from the seat, small and bound in red leather.

As the wand cleared the holder, Harry felt a draw on his magic, as if it was being pulled into the wand. If he had been more experienced, he would have recognized the transfer of wards to his control, but not knowing what the draw was, he panicked and cut off the magic. The walls trembled, and water from the hallway started filling the room, as the enchantments and wards collapsed.

"Alright, time to go!" Bill announced, laying his hand on Harry's shoulder as he gathered up his bags in the other hand. Owen didn't even wait for Bill to finish speaking before he left with a loud pop. Harry and Bill followed, just in time to feel a rush of damp air as the caves collapsed.

They landed on the shoreline looking back at the mission; it had sunk with a great splash, water frothing, turning the lake muddy. Harry and Bill stood in the rain, watching their raft bob and float while the lake filled the chambers below in a great rush.

Dinner that night was an exchange of information more than anything else. Harry, Bill, and Owen learned of the brief battle in camp; and Harry noted Barns was sitting straight, and if anything, looking content in a job well done.

"What now?" Harry voiced his question aloud to the room.

"Now we set sail again, one more quick stop, and we're off for home." Annalisa answered.

"Although, if my research is correct, it should be a pleasant place," Ian added, he was relieved to be moving on. He had stored the loot away, except the wand. Goblins couldn't have wands, and didn't want them anyway. So he gave it to Harry as it was a good match for him, not as good as his Holly wand, but with it being carved in enhancements that channeled magic providing focus, and minimizing the required power to cast a spell, it worked almost as well. Harry stored it in his trunk, thankful for finding the useful trunk in Mr. Bell's shop what seemed a long time ago. That night was a restful one for Harry, Bill, and Owen; all having taken potions to aid in the recovery from their ordeal, and not noticing all the activity around them as the rest of the party dismantled camp, ready to meet with Captain Bowhead.

HPCS~HPCS~HPCS

Dry leaves rustled under paw, and dappled shadows covered the forest floor as Remus followed Padfoot as he tracked back and forth through the forest. They were currently in Albania, following a hunch that a missing Bertha Jorkins was more than suspicious, considering they had followed the Rat's trail to a train station with that being one of the destinations. The footage Remus had found of Peter robbing a Muggle street vendor was just by chance, but it gave them a direction to begin their hunt.

"I smell him, he's been here, I just know it! You know I would never forget that smell, don't you?" Sirius had returned to human form, and was anxious.

"I smell him as well, it's close to a full moon, and the wolf in me is near." Remus stated.

Sirius nodded, "The forest seems unusually quiet, almost as if all the small creatures were avoiding this place."

The wild forest they were walking through changed gradually, becoming denser and darker. Remus walked with his wand up and alert, one could almost feel the darkness in the air. Padfoot ranged ahead, nose twitching, knowing he would be able to sense anything approaching. Then a smell came to his nose, sickly sweet and rotting. He stood, morphing back into Sirius, an arm covering his nose.

"Over here! Something smells dead…"

HPCS~HPCS~HPCS

"Wow, Harry it seems as if you have grown a foot or more! Welcome back on board. Now lad, set the jib and unfurl the sail, we're bound for open seas." Captain Bowhead said by way of greeting.

Harry just grinned before springing into action, it was great to be back on the Dutchman, although his days ended up being spent in a different manner than he expected.

Harry sat with Annalisa studying, trying to understand the complicated pattern and meaning behind the numbers he was looking at. It was frustrating for him, he could watch a spell performed and just know the elements that made up the spell, and then perform it, but to break it out and understand the arithmetic explanation was hard. Runes on the other hand, were natural and easy to comprehend, so much so that Annalisa was nearly at her limit to teach him fast enough. There were hundreds of different runic languages, so they focused on the ones taught at Hogwarts and the few they had encountered. Carving was a little more difficult, it required an artistic approach that could only be trained so much; it was more a gift than a skill. A gift Harry had just enough of to be able to carve the less complicated ones.

Alessandra jumped into Harry's tutoring as well, showing him some healing spells, but she was more interested in teaching him to dance. Their cabins were small, but somehow she managed, teaching the more traditional Wizarding dances, before jumping into the more exuberant dances of her homeland. His meals were frustrating, now he had to use proper manners and silverware, least he embarrass himself while trying to woo his witch. Harry took it all in stride, pleased that he was learning new skills. It seemed to him the more he learned and experienced, the more he valued the memories he made. He felt more aware of people and life, and enjoying the small things that he had never noticed before. The feel of the sun on his face, the smell of the wind, the comfortable grip of a wand in his hand; these were things he had overlooked just a few months ago.

At dawn of the forth morning at sea, Harry was standing at the bow of the boat, watching as they sailed straight into the rising sun. It was crimson light, seeming to push a dark blue curtain back to reveal a bright, golden lit sky. He felt a presence slide up to him, and noticed Belle; she had seemed to avoid him since they had gotten on board. She didn't say anything, and she didn't look at him, she just snuggled into his side and watched the morning with him. A small smile graced her face, as his arm slid around her waist naturally, almost as if without thought. They stood that way until the sun was well up, and others were rising for the day, this was the day they planned on making it to the island. With a small squeeze against his body, she slipped off to return to her cabin, leaving Harry looking thoughtful and more than a little confused.

That afternoon they found the island. It was shrouded by fog, so that when ships tried to sail through, they were diverted around. Ian, Annalisa, and Bill were all on the bow, working magic that had to be the most impressive Harry had seen, visually at least. They kept up a chant, light flashing from their wands, parting the fog with a curtain of multicolored light. If they stopped even for a second the fog rushed back in. It was a spell of Ian's design, made in preparation for this task. Harry watched from the Crow's Nest, his Firebolt at his side, just in case.

A reef appeared in the water, causing a change in direction, but eventually they made it, finding a channel and coming into the clear inner circle of the fog.

Harry gasped, the Island was beautiful. It was shaped like a wedge, low in the front and tall in the back, with a white sand beach in the front, thick forest covering the center, and sheer cliffs to the back wrapping around. It was small, only about five or six Quidditch fields. There was a smooth patch of sandy shore, perfect for setting up camp. The Dutchman lay off shore, a long magical gangway extending several hundred feet to shore was left set up, as most of the supplies were to be left on board. As Harry carried Bill's tent across to the island, he could see down into the clear aqua water small colorful fish rushing about, and a vibrant reef giving way to a smooth sandy bottom.

By the time the tents were setup and Dobby was moved into the kitchen, everyone was hot and sweaty.

"Hey, Harry!" Bill called out, "race you!" Like a shot he was off, kicking off his boots and peeling his shirt over his head as he ran for the water. Harry only took a second before he was splashing in right behind Bill. He laughed as Bill splashed him, just before he got dunked from behind. He came up sputtering, seeing Barns and Bill wrestling with one another. With a yell he jumped, landing on Barns and Bill at once, taking all of them under the water. The rest of the day was spent in play, everyone going for a swim and laying on the beach. Dobby fixed up dinner, and spent time throwing chilled water balls at Harry.

That evening Harry stood on the edge of the surf, watching seagulls fly about, crying and diving after bits of bread that a madly giggling elf was feeding them. The two of them were eerily similar Harry thought, both forced into a life that they had detested, both just now experiencing what life could be. He smiled to himself, life was good now. His toes wiggled into the cool sand, dusk had come and it cooled down far more than he expected.

"Care for a walk?" Belle's voice was soft, with a quality in it that Harry had never heard before.

"Sure, love to." He extended his elbow to her as they walked, drawing closer as dusk faded into night and the moon slowly rose. The beach led them around the island, a wide band of sand that they absently followed; conversation was light, spaced out by long comfortable pauses. They reached the end of the beach where cliffs rose up, the gentle lap of the surf sounding a little louder from echoing off the cliffs. They paused in their walk, Harry slowly turning around to return the way they had come, when Belle's hand stopped him. Her eyes looked into his own, causing a response deep inside him he was unsure of. Her hand traced his jaw line, her eyes tightened slightly, before her hand was wrapping around his head as she firmly kissed him.

Harry stood still, slightly responding by instinct. To say he was confused wouldn't be completely correct. He had felt something developing between them for some time, but to be kissed was…

"Wow," he whispered, his forehead resting on hers, "but what about you being married soon, and my contract-

"SHHHH, not now, not tonight. For now there's just us, you and me, the world outside that blanket of fog doesn't exist. I don't want it to. I just want to be with you, like this, just for this one moment." Her eyes looked into his, seeing the confusion and then the acceptance.

"OK, just us, here and now then," he responded.

His lips crashed into hers this time, and they fully lost themselves to the kiss. Lost themselves to that thrill of kissing someone new for the first time, and to the steadily rising passion and excitement of young love. His fingertips traced her arms, feeling the goose bumps that rose on her tanned skin. They broke the kiss, each gasping for air. Belle watched his reactions, realizing this was his first kiss, and that he wasn't ready for what she had in mind, yet.