A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's a bit late! It's that time of year where I just don't feel like putting much effort into anything .

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Hopefully with winter break coming in a few weeks, I'll be able to get a little farther ahead in writing this story.

Chapter Ten

Setting Sail

"Dahahaha, that was great, Boy!" Shanks pounded Spaz's back in his humor as he laughs at his crew. After finally waking Shanks, Beckman explained the situation to his confused captain and an angry Harry as the pirate crew shuffled about embarrassed by their reaction. "You men sure were had!"

Harry was sulking at the counter, still immaterial and unable to drink water to quench his alcohol-induced thirst. Thankfully he remembered his teacup that he replaced into his pocket after showing Spaz and Shanks, so at least he had immaterial tea to drink.

"Com'on Harry," Spaz wheedled, "it was just a fun story! You played your part awesome! Wasn't it hilarious that they thought you were a real ghost?"

Harry crossed his arms and stuck his bottom lip out in a parody of a pout that let Spaz know he wasn't really that angry, just a bit irritated. "I don't appreciate being depicted as dead."

"Lighten up, Kid!" Shanks grinned, before turning to the rest of his crew. "Well men, these two here will be joining our crew as tag-a-longs as we go to East Blue. They won't be pirates, but treat them like cabin-boys. They'll run errands and do chores in exchange for some teaching in ship sailing and fighting. Any questions?"

Harry glanced around. Most of the crew looked to be men around 25-40 yrs old, some quite stereotypical looking, but others with rather unique appearances. One man was large and round, wearing small shaded goggles and munching on a rack of meat that he grabbed from a plate the bartender left out on one of the tables, a large grin on his face. Another man was thin and shorter with frizzy hair to his chin, a bandana across his forehead with Yasopp written on it, and a pistol hanging from his waist. The others were less interesting, some bald and some with gelled hair, some bare-chested and some with shirts and long coats, some wearing sandals and others in sneakers and socks, some carrying swords and others with pistols.

Most seemed to accept their captain's announcement casually, some giving Harry a friendly wave and smile, others attempting to look intimidating with a glare, especially one bald man with black circles around his eyes and his teeth bared. It's a pitiful expression, Harry thought to himself as he gave a cheeky smile in return and flippant wave hello. A few looked to be quite upset with Spaz who was still bursting into laughter at random intervals, lying boneless on the floor.

As for any questions asked, well.

"So Captain, why's the kid a ghost?"

Harry scowled. "I am not a ghost! I can just go through solid objects once in a while. Merlin, I'm going to kill you, Spaz!" And with a huff, Harry plopped down in a chair to the feeling of burning fingertips and smacked Shanks on the arm, "and stop laughing Shanks, you weren't even conscious for the event."

"Welcome back Kid."

"Yeah, yeah, someone get me a glass of water now that I can actually touch it."

Spaz got up and sat in the chair next to Harry, sliding over the untouched glass he had offered earlier. Harry chugged it down with a sigh of relief.

"That's better. So Shanks, what now?"

"Now we move! Men, grab your things and head for the ship, we're setting sail! Bartender, sorry to say, but this is our last year here so don't buy too much sake next year, alright? Kid and Boy, you're on cooking duty today so take this," Shanks tossed over a stack of bills, "get your butts to the market, buy what you need for lunch and dinner and get started! Don't worry about food for the rest of the voyage, we've got enough stocked up, but it'd be good to have something fresh while we can. Beckman, grab three men to help you pick up our last order and bring it to the ship. We heave anchor in three hours!"

"Aye-aye, Captain!" came a choir of voices and the tavern emptied as they all prepare for departure.

Cooking duty, huh?

"So Spaz, what do you like to eat?"

"Food is great, I love food, yes sirree, food is yummy. I like all sorts of food, I like bread and rice and noodles and fish and meat and sake and those funny fruits from the island we were on – "

"Not a huge vegetable fan, huh?"

"Ummm, well, vegetables are good for you and they help keep away scurvy and other nasty stuff like that but I like fruits better, 'cause they're better tasting but it's not that I don't like vegetables or anything, I – "

"Spaz, you listed sake as a food before fruit and didn't mention any vegetable of any kind at all," Harry interrupted with a wry smile. "It's fine, just know that I will be cooking some and I do expect you to eat it."

"Yes sirree, Harry, I'll do that, no worries," Spaz agreed while nodding like a bobble-head doll.

Harry was quite excited about cooking. Preparing food for others was a task of many memories and emotions, starting from as early as six years of age when Aunt Petunia began teaching him to make breakfast, through his Hogwarts years when he helped cook at both the Burrow and at Headquarters, during the war when game was roasted with magically baked bread, and finally culminating in a small bakery he started in a small town in France but handed off to an employee after a few months.

Cooking for the Dursleys was a generally unpleasant experience. At first, the prospect was exciting to Harry. For once, Aunt Petunia was paying attention to him, and Harry was hopeful that maybe if he did well, he might earn a bit of love from his normally disdainful relatives. Instead, it merely became another aspect of Harry to insult. Dudley would complain there wasn't enough, Uncle Vernon would either accuse him of trying to poison them by undercooking the eggs and meat or smack him for overcooking the eggs and meat, and Aunt Petunia would generally make biting statements about the roast being too salty, the soup too bland, the cake too heavy and the pudding too light. Up until receiving his Hogwarts letter, mealtimes were times when Harry would try his best to please his relatives and have his hopes of acceptance crushed with every word uttered between greedy mouthfuls.

It wasn't until he shared the kitchen with the surrogate mother he found in Mrs. Weasley that he found appreciation for his skill. Mrs. Weasley seemed at first reluctant to let Harry anywhere near the kitchen, but after sneaking in one midnight after nightmares about Voldemort to bake brownies, she acknowledged his capabilities and accepted his help, though still fussing if she ever felt like he did too much and would shoo him away to play chess with Ron. Those were warm times, and Harry had a lot of fun sharing secret smiles with Mrs. Weasley whenever people praised her cooking, unaware of Harry's participation.

Ironically, cooking during the war was probably the most fun. Evening get-togethers around the fire with piping hot food was the time when everyone relaxed just a bit to enjoy the feeling of warm and full stomachs and each other's company. Often, the main dish other than the magically baked bread and occasional barbeque of what game could be caught would be a large cauldron of stew kept at a constant boil over a small fire. What herbs that could be picked from their surroundings would be thrown in with what leftovers there were from previous days. Spices were easily preserved and carried around, however, so soon it became a game every night to flavor the stew in new yet still edible ways. The nutritional value didn't matter much, since everyone carried several doses of nutrient potions to supplement their diet, but empty stomachs were uncomfortable, and everyone looked forward to those mealtimes, Harry especially as it was during those times that he could reassure himself of the wellbeing of his friends.

Cooking after the war was hard. Opening a small bakery during his travels to France, Harry mostly made pastries, enjoying the smiles of his customers and the challenge of new recipes that distracted him from his memories of dying companions and blood splattered robes. It didn't last long, unfortunately. When he started hallucinating Order members asking for croissants and startling away from raspberry tarts because the red reminded him of blood, he gave the store away to an employee and promptly traveled to China in the hopes that the completely foreign language and lifestyle would drown such thoughts.

Strangely enough, all these memories were about cooking for others. The Dursleys only let him eat leftovers. During Hogwarts and the war, he ate because the food was cooked for everybody. After the war, he baked for customers and only really ate take-out or sandwiches. In the new world, he ate picked fruit and the occasional roasted fish while on the deserted island and inn food here in town. Cooking for a large crowd now would be fun, Harry thought, except –

Harry didn't really understand what pirates eat. Considering their lifestyle, healthy and balanced meals are important. Vegetables are important, right? And fruits rich in vitamin C are necessary to prevent scurvy, though Harry wasn't quite sure what scurvy is, exactly, and he learned something about the dangers of vitamin A deficiency in primary school and how carrots are good for your eyes. Anything else was beyond him. The Dursleys just wanted good-tasting food and a lot of it. Mrs. Weasley always planned the dished for each meal herself. During war it didn't matter since food was for filling stomachs and pleasing tongues while potions substituted for nutritional value. After the war, hah, who expected balanced nutrition from pastries at a bakery?

Well, what the pirates will want to eat is probably similar to what everyone craved for at the war front. Meat. Savory meat, probably a thick stew, and piping hot bread as well. Harry could do that. Maybe cook some roast, as well, and carrots and potatoes can easy be added to both the stew and the roast. Green is a healthy color, right? He'll bake some cabbage loaves like what he bought when he and Spaz first arrived to this town and maybe something else…? Harry watched Spaz bounce around the market, exclaiming over large racks of meat, displays of bread, cartons of produce, and jars of spices. Spices! Of course. Harry recalled seeing in the kitchen of the ship bags of salt and pepper, but also a large and well-used jar of miso. Miso soup was simple enough to make and goes well with a wide variety of ingredients. Harry himself wasn't very fond of the taste, but Shanks' crew seemed to like it if it's clear placement on the kitchen counter was any indication. Maybe instead of the stew, he'd cook some miso pork soup with seaweed and turnip. Merlin, but what about dinner?

Ideas swirling through his head, Harry fanned out the stack of bills Shanks gave him. There was plenty to buy what he planned to make for lunch. For dinner, he'd use whatever leftover beef from the roast along with some cuts of mutton to make curry. Cook that with some rice and maybe make some plain miso soup on the side…

Harry fingered the pocket holding his own wallet. Maybe…

"So Harry, whatcha planning?" Spaz asked.

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts. "Ever cook before, Spaz?"

"I peeled potatoes and carrots before, and I can use a rice cooker! And, and, I baked bread once and I can roast meat and fish over an open fire and boil water too and, um…"

"That works thanks. Do you like pastries?"

"Pastries? Like, cakes and cookies and pies and tarts and, and, stuff like that? I love sugar, yes sirree, sugar is great and so are pastries! Do you know how to make them, Harry?"

"Well, Spaz," Harry said with a smile, "I'll certainly try."

"So, how can I help, huh, Harry? Just tell me what to do I'll do it!"

Harry chuckled a bit over Spaz's enthusiasm as they carried bags and crates of groceries they bought from the market into the ship's kitchen up. It was a bit annoying bringing them up the ladder from the rowboat borrowed the dock. Thankfully Spaz was pretty good at rowing since Harry had no experience there, and hopefully none of the pirates would find themselves stranded without a boat to return to the ship.

Harry thought a bit on Spaz's offer, then, as everything was set down onto the floor and counter, he turned to Spaz and pointed to a sack of potatoes.

"You can wash and peel those for now. Er," Harry sifted through the various utensils in the drawers and found a few knives about the right size for peeling and tossed them to Spaz, "use these. The peels can just go into one of the crates I'll empty in just a sec."

"Oki-doki, Harry, I can do that!" Spaz grabbed the knives from the air and scurried over to the sink to start washing the potatoes. Harry emptied a crate of crate of cabbage for Spaz and searched through the cupboards for pots and pans and other baking tools. He found several pots, the largest of which he'll use for the miso soup, a large pan for the roast, and several square tins for cabbage loaves. They were all rather dusty, and the pan could only hold one roast, which wouldn't be nearly enough to feed everyone. Harry would have to use it twice, unless he could find another pan. He checked the time and frowned. There wasn't enough time to use the same pan twice before lunch in just two or three hours and he couldn't see any more pans. Harry placed his hand over his thigh where his wand was concealed. Why not?

Geminio, Harry thought firmly in his mind as he discretely waved his wand over the pan out of sight from Spaz and smiled when a copy of the pan appeared stacked on top of the original. The pan would last about six hours which was more than enough time to cook and serve the second roast he and Spaz bought.

Satisfied, Harry started the oven, checked on Spaz's work with the potatoes, and began to prepare the beef. In the background, he could hear the early returnees being directed by Shanks to prepare the ship for sailing. Just a few more hours, Harry thought to himself as he bustled about the kitchen, and we'll set sail.

A/N: So, I'm sorry so much of the chapter was just Harry cooking... I actually don't cook - I think I just like the idea of Harry knowing how, so it might still turn up in future chapters, but hopefully its a phase I'll get over, yeah? Haha.

It's past tense now. And the story broke 100 reviews, squee!

117 reviews as of today, November 30, 2010

Thanks!