A/N: Thank you so much for MisCard for mentioning this fic on her Harmony Podcast and for genki_geek for recommending it to her. Everyone check out this podcast if you can on iTunes. Almost done with this story, just one more chapter!
Chapter Twenty-two: Fate
Harry's cannon fire was a warning. In reality there was nothing he could do to slow down that ship. He couldn't sink it, his beloved was on it as well as his godfather so his best hope was that this ship his father-in-law had given him was fast and would catch up to the Maria Cristobel.
BOOM!
That was if the Maria Cristobel's cannons didn't sink him first.
A spray of water from the blast splashed against him, reminding him of just how close that was. He was gaining on them.
Draco Malfoy stood on deck, shouting out orders as his face turned red with anger. Potter was gaining on him and he was doing his damned best to keep him off his heels but the half-wits that were manning the cannons were proving this a harder task than he would've wanted. Sirius and Hermione were taken below decks, their fates unknown to him and he would've cared if he didn't have bigger problems on his mind right now. Like what the Dark Lord would do to him if he allowed Potter to board this ship.
"Fire again!"
Hermione jumped with the resounding boom the cannons made as they fired. She was led to the captains cabins below deck by the Death Eaters and was now waiting for the final room companion to join her.
Voldemort.
The room was paneled in a dark wood, a table in matching wood stood center of the room, pillars were spaced throughout. She was tied to one of these. The rope that bound her hands together were also wrapped around a small pillar. She didn't dare try and escape, she wasn't alone. Dolohov and another Death Eater kept her company. She clung to the pillar as the ship made a sharp list before quickly righting itself. The Death Eaters regarded her with cool eyes and she knew that any questions she had would go unanswered.
The door burst open and Sirius tumbled through, his hands bound behind his back, his mouth gagged with a white strip of cloth. He was bloody and bruised due to the hospitality of their hosts.
"Sirius!" Hermione cried as he stumbled to her feet.
Lucius Malfoy walked in behind him, followed by Voldemort and a younger Death Eater. She sank to her knees to meet Sirius, wishing she could wrap her arms around him and keep him safe.
"What have you done to him, you monsters!" she screamed at them. Sirius moaned at her feet and she whispered soothing words to him.
"Your loyalties are spread too much," Voldemort smirked. "What does young Potter think of his bride's feelings for his godfather?"
"What do you want with him?" Hermione asked, unfazed.
"Oh, I have such a delightful plan for our hero here," he replied quietly. The door was still open behind him and she could see a few Death Eaters pass, a rope tied around…well, she couldn't actually describe what she saw. A thing floating in the air, a slimy rotten hand. And she grew cold, oh so cold, as a feeling of hopelessness and despair filled her heart. Sirius groaned at her feet.
"Well, I've allowed all the time necessary for you to make your good-byes." Voldemort motioned to two Death Eaters in the room who picked Sirius up off the floor.
"No, no. What are you doing?" Hermione pleaded. She strained against her ropes. "Where are you taking him?"
Sirius was coming to and strained against his captors, a muffled cry of her name left his lips as he struggled.
"Sirius!" she cried. "SIRIUS!!!"
Another Death Eater threw himself into the struggle and assisted the others to control him. He cried out for her one more time before the door slammed shut leaving her alone with Dolohov. Hermione sank to the floor and felt the warm tears fall down her cheeks as her body shook with sobs.
**
"We're gaining on them," Remus shouted out as a spray of seawater flew onboard. Harry stood next to him. He could see the frantic blond head of Draco Malfoy flitting about the deck in a panic.
"Aim for the mast," Harry ordered.
The order was carried below decks and he could hear the clanking of chains as the aim of the cannon was adjusted. The boat shuddered violently as the cannon let loose. He could hear the shouts of the men on the other boat as the cannon skimmed the deck, breaking wood but missing its target.
Hermione slammed against the pillar and Dolohov grabbed onto the table to keep his balance as the boat jerked violently. She looked up at him and saw the unease in his face, the inner debate he held on whether he should go up on deck or stay here and keep an eye on her.
My husband is coming. You are dead.
She projected this thought to him over and over. Harry would come and rescue her, preferably before he sunk this boat. She heard more shouts of the men on deck and a whistling sound before the boat jerked more violently than before. There was a loud thud as Dolohov lost his balance and smacked his head on the table. He fell in a useless lump before her, knocked out cold.
Hermione blinked. She couldn't believe her luck! She pulled against her binding but it hurt her wrist too much to do this. She moved as far as she could from the pole and began to kick at it. There was a loud crash and the boat shuddered. No one would care about the racket she was making, they sounded too busy on deck.
The first wand blast came from the Maria Cristobel as the Order threw their grappling hooks onto her. Harry ducked as the spell whizzed above his head and landed somewhere behind him in a blast. It would not deter him, he had to get on this ship. Draco cast a severing charm on one of the ropes, causing the ladder to tilt, sending some of the Order into the water. He heard the whoosh sound and suddenly felt a sharp sting in his shoulder as he gasped in pain. He grabbed his injured shoulder and looked up in time to see Potter jump onto the deck, wand out and aimed at him. Draco made a slashing motion with his wand.
"Avada K-" He was rewarded with another stinging hex from Harry, this one aimed at his wand hand.
Harry bore down on him. "Leave those type of spells to the big boys," he said contritely. "Protego!" Harry said as Draco attempted another spell at him and he quickly countered with a spell that hurled Draco to the other side of the deck, hitting a wooden wall and slumping to the ground, gasping for breath.
Hermione could hear the flurry of shouts and wand blasts. Harry was here!! She kicked harder at the pillar, her hip and knee already badly bruised but it didn't matter, she had to free herself. Her heart stilled when she heard Dolohov groan softly. He was coming to.
"Harry!!" she called out, her kicks coming frantically.
Draco couldn't get a good enough breath, it had been knocked out of him. Harry came at him. He weakly raised his wand, hoping something would come to him but he cried out in pain instead when his arm was forced back to the ground by the heel of Harry's boot. Harry bent down and took his wand from him, snapping it in half.
"You are only alive because I have yet to find out if Hermione is still alive," he hissed in his ear. "But if I find she was violated in any way by you, it will be a long and painful death."
"Harry!"
Harry's head snapped up when he heard his wife's muffled cry. He looked down again at Draco and kicked him in the face before he stepped over him to get at his wife.
"Hermione?" he called out as he went below deck, wand drawn.
"Harry!"
Her voice came from the captain's cabins. He kicked at the door and saw Hermione tied to a pillar, a Death Eater clumsily getting to his feet. Harry stunned him right away and shut the door behind him.
"Harry! Oh, Harry!" Relief and tears of joy misted Hermione's eyes.
"Hermione," Harry breathed, relieved that she was alive.
He severed her binds with a simple charm and her arms immediately went around him. Harry cradled her head and kissed her ferociously. Her hands tangled in his hair as his hands moved to her back and waist to press her closer to him. She ended up falling back against the wall, Harry eagerly lifting her skirts to have her thighs wrap around him.
"I knew you would come for me," she said softly as he kissed her neck.
Her words broke through the developing cloud of lust that had filled his mind and yanked him back to the reality that this was not the time nor place for a proper reunion with Hermione. He grinned wickedly at her as he set her back down on the ground.
"Come on, let's go," he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the room.
She gave pause in the hall. "Sirius," she said.
"Where is he?" he asked. Remus and Shacklebolt came up to them.
"They took him further below," Hermione explained. "I don't know what they're going to do to him. This whole thing was for him."
"For Sirius?" Remus asked.
"That's what I had overheard," she explained. "Voldemort took him below with his Death Eaters and…something else."
"Wait, wait, wait," Harry said. "Voldemort is on this boat?"
Hermione looked directly at him. "Yes, he is."
Harry looked at Remus and Shacklebolt. "Take her off this ship-"
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."
"Don't argue with me, Hermione," Harry replied.
"I am NOT leaving your side!" She refused to yield.
Harry let out a sigh of frustration, knowing he wasn't going to win this battle. "Alright," he said reluctantly. "Let's go."
Down the stairs they went, meeting two Death Eaters who where standing guard at a door. They were easily taken out and Harry burst into the room.
It was filled with a few more Death Eaters, his nemesis sitting on a chair that rested on a platform, looking pale and sickly. A breath away from death. His godfather lay on the ground, a black robed creature huddled over him, it's gaping hole for a mouth clamped firmly over Sirius'.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted and a silver stag burst out of his wand and barreled down on the Dementor, spearing it with it's antlers and tossing it across the room.
"NO!!" Voldemort shouted out. "Stop him! STOP HIM!!"
Underneath the chaos of wand blasts, Hermione crawled over to Sirius.
"Oh, Sirius," she cried when she reached him. His eyes were closed and he had a cold sweat on him. She knelt down and held her ear to his mouth. There were tiny hot puffs of breath on her ear. He was still alive!! Suddenly, she felt a cold hand wrap around her arm and she was yanked to her feet.
"POTTER!!!"
Harry heard Voldemort shout at him over the din. His heart stopped when he saw that he had Hermione in his arms. Voldemort grinned evilly at him as he stepped on a trapdoor and fell through with Hermione. Her scream cut short when the door slammed shut.
"No. No!" Harry screamed and dove to where the trap door lay. He couldn't see it. It blended seamlessly into the floor. He ran his hand frantically over the wood and tried every spell he could think of to spring it.
"Reducto!" he heard Remus yell and a Death Eater flew over Harry's head and slammed against the wall. He heard a small click and suddenly the ground below Harry gave way and he tumbled down.
He landed in a pile of netting, his wand slipped from his hand and Harry tumbled to the floor.
"Don't move a muscle," Voldemort's voice was cold and deadly.
Harry froze where he was, looking at Hermione, terrified, in his grip. His wand at her forehead.
"Please," Harry said shakily. "Let her go. It's me you want."
Voldemort scoffed. "It was your godfather I wanted. The Dementor was to take his soul away so I could slip in and take over. You would never even know I was there inside him."
"Then let her go," Harry asked again.
"A life for a life," Voldemort offered. "I let her go, you let me escape this ship."
"Done," Harry said immediately.
"No, Harry," Hermione shook her head. "Just kill him." Voldemort yanked hard on her arm.
"Shut up you little mudblood!" he hissed in her ear.
Harry moved slightly out of instinct, shifted the netting he was resting on. Everyone froze as a small clattering sound filled the room. Harry's wand fell from where it was resting and slowly rolled across the room between himself and Voldemort.
Voldemort looked down at the wand, then at Harry, then threw his head back in laughter. Both he and Hermione had thought Harry was armed. He threw Hermione to the ground and aimed at Harry.
Hermione made a grab for Harry's wand. She thought of the time she had first met her love on the balcony at Falbrooke. The way she felt when she first laid eyes on him, the way she felt when he first kissed her lips. The spell he taught her that night and she turned to face Voldemort.
"EXPELLIARMUS!!" she shouted. Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand and he looked down at her in absolute shock and surprise.
And as fate would have it, the wand landed in Harry's lap.
Pride filled Harry as he remembered that he was the one that taught Hermione that spell, that wonderful and magical night when he knew that his life would never be the same when he set foot on that balcony to join her.
He walked over to her and stood next to her, his hand reached and wrapped around hers that was holding her wand. A shock ran through them both at his touch but Harry bravely didn't step away. He concentrated at the task at hand and not on the feel of her skin under his hand, the underlying fragrance of flowers from her perfume, the closeness of her.
Hermione wanted to lean back and melt into him. She wanted the hand that rested on hers to wander all over her. She breathed him in and closed her eyes briefly. A heated flush crept over her. She made the slashing motion with him and then again. The air around them was fragrant and warm. The fairies that had decorated the gardens flew by them once in awhile, little soft glowing balls of light.
Harry left her side to face her again. "Now," his voice was barely above a whisper. "Disarm me."
"Expelliarmus."
He slowly picked up Voldemort's wand. "Avada Kedavra."
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