Harry and the Pirates

Chapter 73

The Bonds of Comradeship

Ron plummeted down, down, down, into the deep blue water. He'd been to the seaside before, and knew how to swim underwater with his eyes open. The water was not uncomfortable, and he swam down strongly, keeping a watch out for Revy. He cast a quick Bubble-Head Charm on himself, hoping that he wouldn't have to go too deep. Bubble-Head Charms were mainly meant to protect from bad air; although they did work underwater, they couldn't be trusted below a certain depth.

As he went deeper, the light became dimmer and dimmer, but eventually he caught sight of the Chinese gunslinger. She was tangled up in a bunch of wreckage at the bottom of the harbor, struggling frantically to free herself. He could see that she was bleeding, and several lean, feral shapes were circling, looking for an opening to take the first bite.

Grabbing a bit of wreckage to steady himself, Ron pointed his wand. "Reducto!" The shark he had aimed at convulsed, turning tail and speeding off into the gloom. The others apparently thought that whatever had spooked their comrade was more than they could handle, and they beat a hasty retreat. Once it was safe, Ron swam over to Revy.

She had apparently exhausted herself trying to get free. She hung, tangled in cords and wreckage, her eyes open and staring at nothing. Ron quickly cast another Bubble-Head Charm on her before turning his attention to the things that she had become entangled with.

Not being half-panicked, and able to breathe, he had little trouble freeing Revy from the wreckage. When he wasn't able to unsnarl things, a quick Severing Charm worked wonders. Once she was free, she floated in the water weightlessly. She was unconscious, or at least unresponsive.

Ron knew he had to get her to the surface, fast. She wasn't breathing, and he could see water trickling from her mouth and nose within the Bubble-Head. Pointing his wand at the surface, he wrapped his arm around Revy's waist and cast a spell his father had taught him for just this sort of emergencies. With brothers as reckless of their safety as Fred and George, the rest of the Weasley children had all been taught quite a bit about lifesaving and related subjects.

The charm worked, pulling him and Revy relentlessly toward the surface of the water. As he rose, he could feel his Bubble-Head charm weakening, and he re-cast it as best he could; he just hoped that it would hold long enough for him to get to the air before it gave out.

He found himself rocketing up into the air, with Revy held close to him by one arm. For a second, he and Revy were completely clear of the water, before falling back in with a splash. On the quay, the Black Lagoon crew and Harry, Dudley and Ginny sprang into action. Dutch threw a life-ring attached to a rope out, and Ron grabbed it, as his sister and their friends cast spells to make him and Revy lighter than feathers. In seconds, they were both on the quay, and Rock was kneeling over Revy, fear in his eyes.

"She's not breathing! Do any of you know how to do artificial respiration?"

Harry pointed his wand. "Ennervate!" Revy twitched. "She's alive!"

"Let me!" Ginny pointed her wand and cast a spell. "Expellaqua!" A gout of water spurted out of Revy's mouth and nose, and the Chinese woman convulsed. Her eyes flew open, but she didn't seem to be seeing anything. "She's still not breathing!"

Harry put his hand on Revy's neck, feeling for a pulse. "Her heart's still beating! We have a chance!" Ron didn't hesitate. He locked his lips over Revy's mouth, breathing in, then sitting back to let her lungs expel the air, then breathing fresh air in again. He knew there was a spell for this, but he didn't know which one it was. And he had learned Muggle methods from a neighbor, after seeing the man use them to save a child which had been pulled out of the Ottery River near his house.

After three or four repetitions, Revy coughed, convulsed, and began breathing on her own. Rock came up with a blanket, spreading it over her as gently as though he had been Madame Pomfrey at Hogwarts. Ron sat back, and gave way to a nice, relaxing fit of the shakes. Someone put a cup into his hand, and he threw it back, gasping as the fiery liquid burned its way down his throat.

"We'll get an ambulance here, and get Revy to hospital. You come along too, Mr. Weasley," Dutch rumbled. He patted Ron on the back. "She'll want to talk to you when she's back to herself."

A couple of hours later, they were gathered in Revy's room at the Roanapur hospital. The Black Lagoon Company had good medical insurance, and the ambulance had come quickly at Rock's frantic call.

Doctor Suttirat straightened up from where she had been examining Revy. "Miss Lee'll need to stay with us overnight to deal with that injury, but unless she does something spectacularly stupid, she'll be up and around and back to normal in no time!" She gave Revy a stern look. "I hope you aren't going to make a liar out of me, Miss Lee!"

"No, ma'am," Revy mumbled. While Revy was normally very self-willed, she knew better than to try attitude with a doctor in her own hospital. Even if she'd been inclined to try, Dutch's stern gaze on her ensured her good behavior.

"Well, in that case, I'll leave you to your friends. I do wish that Mister Weasley would let us examine him, but if you say he feels all right, I'll take your word for it. However," the doctor said sternly, "if he starts showing signs of anything being wrong, you trot him right on in here, do you understand me?"

"Gotcha, ma'am," Dutch said. "We'll keep an eye on Ron, and if we don't like what we're seeing, we'll haul him back here. I think he'll be all right, though."

Ron was sitting by Revy's bed, watching her intently. Hearing himself discussed, he remarked: "You know, I am right here. I do feel just fine. A swim in the sea was just what I needed, anyway."

Suspicious, but willing to accept Ron's word that he felt all right, Dr. Suttirat left. Once she was gone, Revy reached out to take Ron's hand. "Ron…why did you do it?" she husked. "What made you do that, anyway?"

"What made me do what?" asked Ron, honestly confused. He couldn't figure out what Revy was driving at.

"Save me. Why did you go to all that trouble?"

"All that trouble?" Ron was honestly shocked. "What trouble? You would have died if I hadn't done something!"

"But why?" A tear trickled, unnoticed, down Revy's cheek. Ron felt horribly embarrassed. He had come to known the Chinese-American woman, and he knew that to her, her tough image was all-in-all. He felt as though he'd somehow invaded her privacy. "Why would you save me? What am I to you?"

"You're a human being! What else was I supposed to do? Ginny, Harry and Dudley aren't in my league as swimmers, so I did it!" A horrible suspicion formed in Ron's mind. "Don't you think I should have done it?"

"You could have just let me drown. Almost anybody else would have done it." Ron noticed that Rock was leaning close, looking utterly stricken.

"Well, I'm not 'just anybody else.' I'm Ron Weasley. It never occurred to me to just leave you to drown. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd let you die when I could save you. If you'd died anyway, at least I'd have known I had tried!"

"Excuse me, Ron," put in Rock. "I want to have some 'alone time' with Revy. Would the rest of you excuse us?" Ron nodded, and got up. Dutch gathered the others with his eyes and led them out to a nearby waiting room, closing the door so that Rock and Revy could have some privacy. Harry and Ginny were sitting there, and looked up anxiously as the others entered.

Once they were settled, Dutch leaned close to Ron. "You're a real good kid, Ron. And as far as I'm concerned, any time you want, you have a slot in the Black Lagoon crew."

Ginny hugged him hard. He could feel her tears on his shoulder. "I was so scared!" she whispered. "I couldn't bear to lose you! You're my nearest brother! Those awful people…I wish we'd killed them all!"

Reminded, Ron asked: "What happened when I was under water, anyway?"

Harry smiled reminiscently. "Dudley, Ginny and I laid down a barrage of spells, while Dutch and Benny shot at them with their guns. They turned tail and ran. I don't know if we got any of them, but the last I saw of them, they looked to me like they had had enough of us."

"So that explains why nobody shot at us when we got back to the surface." Ron sat back, wincing slightly. He'd wrenched his back a bit, and while it wasn't going to stop him getting about, it was annoying. "Glad you covered for us!"

Rock came back out, looking shaken. "Revy's asleep. I think we'd better head back to the Lagoon Company offices. Dr. Suttirat says she'll call there with any news."

"All right," Harry said. "Ron, Ginny, Dudley and I will go on back to Bougainvillea Traders. Balalaika and Aunt Petunia will want to know where we've been. I know you called them to tell them, Dutch, but they'll want to see that we're safe and sound."

When they got back to Bougainvillea Traders' offices, Petunia lit up the second they walked in. "You're back! Oh, it's so good to see you safe and sound! Dutch told us that there'd been some trouble, but that you came through for everybody very well!" Harry and Dudley accepted her fussing over them calmly, while for Ron, and Ginny, it was a taste of home.

Several days later, Ron and Ginny were sitting at the Bougainvillea Traders' headquarters, with Harry and Dudley. The door to Balalaika's private office opened, and Balalaika came out. "Mr. Weasley?" Ron looked up, slightly startled. "May I have a word with you?"

"Of course, ma'am!" Privately, Ron found Balalaika rather intimidating, but in a good way. She was very like Professor Snape, he had decided. If you were one of hers, she would do all in her power to help you, but if you were not one of hers and did wrong to one of hers, she would extract terrible vengeance. "Do you want me to come into your office?"

"No, what I have to say can be said in public. The rule in the Soviet Army was always 'praise in public, rebuke in private,' after all." Balalaika looked down at him, her face unreadable. "I have just had a very interesting conversation with Dutch, of the Black Lagoon. He tells me that you saved his security specialist, Revy Two-Hands."

"Well, yes, ma'am, I did. There was nothing else to be done. I'm a very good swimmer, so I did it."

Balalaika smiled. "Your action was in what I am sure is the finest tradition of your school, Mr. Weasley. Dutch was singing your praises, and Rock and Benny were joining him. Your parents should be very proud of you. Have you told them what you did?"

"No, ma'am. It didn't seem important. I've written them, but mostly telling them about the wonderful hospitality I've been shown by everybody here, and about what a good time Ginny and I have been having. I didn't want to worry them."

"I see. I know many people around this town who'd be bragging everywhere they went about doing what you did. You seem to take it completely in stride. That speaks very well for you. Your parents and teachers did a fine job with you." Balalaika held out her hand, and Ron took it and shook it. "I am very glad you came to our town."

"Thank you, ma'am!" Ron blushed, not understanding why people were making such a fuss. "I was just the person who was in position to do something, so I did it. Anybody would have done as much."

Balalaika smiled. "Not around here, Mr. Weasley. Don't ever change, though. People like you are in short supply." With that, Balalaika headed back into her office, and Ron noticed that Harry, Dudley and Ginny were staring after her.

Harry finally broke the silence. "She was really, really impressed with you, Ron." He reached over and patted Ron's shoulder. "I'm glad you're my friend."

Ginny put her arm around Ron's shoulders. "And I'm glad you're my brother."

Ron looked around. "Speaking of our brothers, where did Percy vanish to?"

Sergeant Boris said: "He is over at the Rip-off Church. He was asked over there to have a conference with Sister Eda." At this information, Harry and Dudley looked very knowing, their eyes dancing with glee. Ron wondered what they knew that he didn't. He exchanged puzzled looks with Ginny.


A few days later, Revy Two-Hands, along with Rock, came over to see the Weasleys. "I want to thank you again for saving my life, Ron," Revy said. "I still don't know why you did it, but I'm glad you did."

"I did it because I couldn't do otherwise. Wouldn't you do as much?" Ron really couldn't figure out what Revy was driving at. Revy gave him a look of incomprehension, before drawing him into a hard hug. Over her shoulder, Rock caught Ron's eye and gave him a wink.

When Revy left, Rock stayed behind for a few minutes. "Revy doesn't understand you because down deep, she doesn't think she's worth anything much. She had a very bad time growing up, and there was no kindly Professor McGonagall to whisk her away to a wonderful magical school."

Harry chuckled rather bitterly. "Our school isn't as Utopian as you think, Rock. I do hope that Revy starts feeling better about herself. I think she's improved enormously since taking up with you."

"We're changing each other. Or at least bringing out parts of ourselves that we weren't aware were there. In any case, Ron, I can't thank you enough. My offer stands. If there's anything I can ever do for you, all you need to do is ask."

"I only did what anybody else would do!" Ron protested. He was really rather embarrassed; he had always felt that more attention would be nice, but not for doing something as perfectly ordinary as this!

Rock's expression looked rather strange. "You have a better view of the world than is normal here, Ron. Don't ever change. The world needs people like you. Sayonara."


The rest of the Weasleys' visit to Roanapur was rather uneventful, at least according to Harry and Dudley. "Normally, this town is 'never a dull moment,'" they explained. "The bosses are content with the current balance of power, or at least, don't feel that trying to upset it is worth the risk."

They saw little of Percy. He was spending a great deal of time at the Rip-Off Church, and was very close-mouthed about what he was doing there. "This isn't like Percy, not at all," Ron commented. "We wizards and witches are generally pretty skeptical about religion." He noticed that all the Roanapur locals, including Harry and Dudley, looked very blank when this subject came up.

When it came time for them to leave, Percy finally rolled in, with Sister Eda by his side. "Well, it's time to take you two back to England," he said. "Once I've got you seen to, it's back to Roanapur for me! The opportunities here make the Ministry look pretty second-rate!"

"What in the world do you mean?" Ron and Ginny stared at their brother. All his life, he'd aimed for a job with the Ministry with single-minded fervor. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going into partnership with Sirius Black! With two of us, we can get a lot more done than any single wizard can do. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to make money here! The bosses are all bidding for our services!"

"Just don't let yourself be identified so completely with one boss that his enemies figure that you are completely his. Neutrality is best, here," Harry cautioned. He and Dudley got up and shook Percy's hand. "And welcome to town!"

"Sirius is seeing to the paperwork with the Thai authorities," Percy went on, as his flabbergasted siblings stared at him. "There shouldn't be any problem. Boss Chang and Balalaika are helping out. They're both eager to keep me here."

When Percy had left, Ginny turned to Ron, her face stormy. "Yeah, I'll just bet he's eager to stay! That phony nun turned his head!" She gave a contemptous sniff. "Men!"

Ron hadn't thought of that factor, and was slightly shocked. He'd never thought of Percy taking up with a Muggle! Much less a woman who was second-in-command in what he now knew was a large-scale black-market arms trading company.


When they got back to Britain, Ron was expecting their mother to explode at the news that her precious Percy was planning to settle in Roanapur. He was wrong.

Molly said: "I had always expected you to follow your father into the Ministry, Percy, but this sounds such a wonderful opportunity that I can't blame you for jumping at it!" She hugged Percy. "When you're settled, maybe your father and I can come out and visit!"

"That'd be wonderful, Mum. And maybe with you along, even Fred and George can come see the town. You can usually keep those two in line." Percy smiled. "I've got to say I won't miss this British climate!"

When Fred and George got the news, they looked utterly stricken. "But…it won't be the same without you around!" Fred said.

"I've got my reasons," Percy said. He showed them a picture. "And this is one of them. She calls herself Sister Eda."

The twins stared, pop-eyed. Fred finally broke the silence. "You lucky, lucky bloke. You lucky, jammy bloke! She's a real peach!"

Percy looked smug, and Ron noticed that Ginny was giving him a glare. "Got to say, that Weasley charm works wonders. I don't know if we'll work out long-term, but for now, I'm having fun!"

Ginny scowled. "Men!"