Chapter 11: Friend or Foe?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to PotC nor HP as they remain the properties of their respective owners. I do own the plot though and any additional characters I add. Also, the familiar dialogue is from the PotC films which belong to Disney and the director Gore Verbinski.

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Elizabeth managed to get a small boat, rowing away from the Dauntless, glancing ahead over her shoulder. Cotton's parrot was nowhere to be seen now. In the distance, Pintel broke through the surface near the Dauntless, intending on climbing up the anchor. He squinted over as Elizabeth rounded the point, rocking the obscure longboat from view. Shrugging, and gesturing to his fellow skeletal pirates who appeared, Pintel climbed up the anchor.

In the lagoon, two sailors, alert and vigilant, ogled out towards the shore. The island revealed nothing but complete blackness. The sailors jumped upon hearing a strange scurrying sound like bones scraping against metal. They continued to listen intently, but after a few moments, there was nothing more. The taller of the two shrugged at his companion. 'Ship rats. Big ones,' he said, chuckling.

The smaller one nodded. 'Hate those things,' he muttered, scanning the shore for any movement. The two sailors turned back, continuing their vigil. There was a long silence between them before the small one spoke again. 'Taste all right, though,' he added thoughtfully.

The tall one glanced at him for a moment, before looking back out at the shore. 'That they do,' he agreed with a shrug. From behind, the two sailors were well-lit by a lantern. Shadows appeared; skeletons were climbing up the ship behind the sailors. Skeletal arms reached up, grabbing the sailors from behind, picking them up and tossing them over the rail, hitting the water with a splash.

Pintel peered down into the water, satisfied with his actions, and put away his knife. Glancing down, he noticed a long piece of seaweed in his ribcage and pulled it out, tossing it over into the water as well before turning to the others. 'Be quick, now. Train the starboard guns on the beach and set your aim. Wait for my signal, we don't want to spook them,' he ordered. The other pirates scurried off in a hurry to comply.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth rounded the point until the Black Pearl, anchored in the neighbouring cove, came into her sight. 'Oh, where are Calli and Will,' she muttered to herself, scanning the cove. She caught a fleck of colour by the Pearl as Cotton's Parrot darted through a porthole. Elizabeth slowed her efforts, silently approaching the ship. She drew up as close, climbing up the side as quietly as she could. She climbed over the railing, moving towards the deck, glancing around the corner to see there were figures on the deck.

Four pirates, who ought to have been keeping watch, gathered on the deck. They had collected wine bottles, and rum casts into a pile, along with apples, biscuits, and all the food they could find on the ship. The moonlight cast them as skeletons, their bones shining like marble. They acted out a mock-feast, in anticipation of the curse getting lifted finally. A skinny skeleton offered two bottles, one of them wine and the other rum, to a big-boned skeleton settled on the deck next to him. 'Which would you prefer first, good sir—rum, or wine?' he asked him.

The big-boned skeleton looked at the two bottles. 'I believe I'll have a spot o' rum, if you don't mind, and thank'ee kind sir!' he answered in the same mock tone his companion used. They burst out laughing, a hideous sound wheezing through their bones.

Behind them, unnoticed as they were not paying attention, Elizabeth peeked around the corner again. Picking her moment carefully, she sneaked past them down a gangway, disappearing into the darkness of the ship. She hoped they left Callista on board, but also prayed they would have enough time to reach Will in the cove.

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Scanning the cove, Gillette crouched down before running low behind a line of rocks where Norrington waited, hidden behind a larger rock. 'All the men are in place, sir. Ready to fire,' he reported to, receiving a curt nod.

'Good, wait for my order—' A booming sound cut him off, echoing throughout the night. 'What the blazes is that?' he muttered more to himself than to Gillette. They looked around behind them, noticing it was cannon fire coming from the Dauntless. They dived out of the way as cannonballs hit the shore, the sounds of the hidden men crying out in anguish reaching their ears. 'Men! Take cover!' Norrington shouted. The sailors scrambled to find refuge.

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Hermione felt powerless standing next to the chest which caused so much drama amongst the pirates who were holding them prisoner. Two bulky pirates flanked her sides, holding onto the chains binding her. If only she could reach her wand from where she stored it in her boot when they took her into the hold of the Black Pearl. Fortunately, the pirates hadn't even thought to take it off her, that it may be a weapon of their undoing. She used magic in front of them last time, though Barbossa didn't seem to grasp how dangerous she is.

She glanced at Will who was glaring at Jack as if he might tear him limb from limb, and she wasn't surprised. Jack had deceived them, and it was his fault they were in this place. Though Hermione deliberated on what Jack's game was. He loathed Barbossa from what she could recall of her conversation with Gibbs. Why would Jack aid the one person who took everything from him?

Will spoke, interrupting her thoughts, 'You've been planning this from the beginning. Since you learned my name.' It wasn't a question.

Jack smirked, and Hermione couldn't help thinking of Draco Malfoy, wondering if the two were distantly related. Jack glanced at Barbossa, taking the opportunity to move towards him. 'Oh, please! Did I really seem that clever?' he asked him, rolling his eyes.

'Jack, you sold us out!' Hermione cried, whimpering as one of the pirates pulled the chain forcefully, causing them to cut into her skin.

Jack hesitated, gazing at her before shooting a scowl at the pirates. Hermione gazed at him, and he winked at her. He was still smiling, while smoothly slipping a sword from one of the pirate's scabbards. He tossed it to Will who caught it despite his surprise. 'Use it well,' he said, drawing his sword and clobbering one of the guards holding Hermione. He hit the other one, grabbing the key, and unlocked the chains binding her before Barbossa and the other pirates recovered from their shock.

Barbossa snarled. 'Confound it, Jack! I was actually beginning to like you!' he barked. The pirates drew their swords, advancing on the three companions.

Hermione pulled out her wand, casting protective spells around them. The two stared at her for a moment. 'What on earth—' Will began, getting cut off as a pirate engaged him in battle.

Jack clashed swords with two pirates but smiled at her. 'I knew there was something special about you, love!' he yelled, thrusting his sword through one of the pirate's chests, using his foot as leverage to pull it out. He turned to engage the other before he got skewered.

'Yes well, save it for later!' Hermione barked, firing spells at the pirates, finding it to be more efficient when they were in their regular form rather than as skeletons.

Jack and Will were back-to-back, taking on many opponents, each had their style of fighting. Will parried, glissaded, and disarmed his enemies with lightning-fast speed and perfect form. Jack used his blade, his fists, acrobatics, and anything within his reach to survive. Hermione observed the contrast between them with some amusement. She would have commented had she not also been fighting for her survival. Her technique was using the Petrificus Totalus curse to petrify them before stunning them just to be safe. She was still dubious about the last time her wand hadn't succeeded against them. It seemed to be holding this time thankfully.

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On the beach, the sailors charged towards refuge just as the moon appeared from behind a cloud. Suddenly, an army of skeletons rose up from the sea, charging the stunned sailors, striking several of them down. 'Steady, men! Remember—we're the Navy!' Norrington yelled. The sailors recovered their nerve at these words, engaging the enemy. It became a full-on battle between the Royal Navy against the skeleton pirates. Eventually, the skeletal army surrounded the Navy men, driving them back when there was a sudden boom of cannon fire. Norrington, amid a swordfight, turned to see what was going on. 'What is happening out there?' he muttered to himself, blocking the attack of the skeleton he was fighting.

Meanwhile, on the deck of the Black Pearl, Gibbs, Anamaria, and Cotton had managed to seize it. Elizabeth acted as its Captain, steering around the point, cannons blazing.

Gillette gazed over then, seeing the Black Pearl firing on the Dauntless. 'They're on our side! Take heart, men!' he shouted. The Royal Navy men stood their ground, continuing the fight.

Elizabeth was shaken. She searched the entire ship, and there was no sign of Callista. She prayed her little sister was safe, not knowing said "sister" was currently holding her own against the pirates within the cove.

Hermione, for her part, had managed to paralyse and stun quite a few pirates. She was starting to get agitated as they realised her trick and moved into the moonlight where her magic was ineffective against their skeletal form. She glanced over at Will and Jack while staying in the shadows, her wand trained on the pirates in case they moved into the shadows where she could attack them…

Her thoughts turned to Elizabeth. She knew if Jack escaped the island, she would like to think he wouldn't have left her there or that Elizabeth would have let him, which meant she had to be close by.

She just hoped the older girl was safe…