A Swashbuckling Romance

Five hundred yards off the coast of a small island, in the midst of such chaos as only the most powerful storm at sea can produce, two pirate brigantines approached each other intent on battle. Cannons blasted from each deck, lead balls barely missing the vulnerable wood of the ships before being swallowed up by the tumultuous ocean. A few men had to fling themselves to the floor of the deck in order to avoid being hit. The ships were soon side by side.

“Board the ship!” Captain Harry Potter shouted above the din of raging thunder, clanging metal, and screaming men. He scraped wet, salty hair out of his eyes and turned his head to look at the sailing master, who had just brought his brigantine, the Gryffin, alongside the enemy ship.

His men rushed past him brandishing cutlasses or holding wands, their teeth bared, cursing the ship they were heading toward, the Serpent. Harry pulled aside ten of his men, including his Quartermaster, Ron, and instructed them to stay on the Gryffin with the sailing master as the rest tried to capture the enemy.

As Harry ran to follow his men onto the Serpent, he looked up at its writhing flag and grimaced at the skull and snake which lit up briefly as lightening flashed. The flag was that of Voldemort, the infamous pirate, now long dead, that had killed his dear parents some twenty-seven years ago. The Serpent’s current Captain was the dreaded pirate Draco Malfoy, Voldemort’s successor.

Harry reached the side of his ship nearest to the Serpent and climbed onto the slick wooden railing. He leapt onto the Serpent and surveyed the battle before him. Seamus sprinted by, flicking his wand out before him, pointing at a well-dressed enemy. The man flew backwards and scraped along the deck on his back. With a cry, Seamus leapt onto him, sword raised.

Harry turned as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and quickly raised his wand to defend an attack. His left hand grasped the hilt of his sword, removed it from its sheath, and he flung himself forward toward his attacker. The man, thinking he had caught Harry unaware, was unprepared for his enemy’s actions and stumbled backward, wand still in hand. Harry swung his sword and severed the man’s hand clean off at the wrist. The twitching limb, still clutching the wand, fell to the floor and slid across the deck over blood and frothing water.

Harry turned from the screaming, fallen man with disgust and within seconds had to deflect a few petrificus totalus spells. Suddenly, a wave pounded against the ship, water violently splashing over the railing and knocking a few men down, including Harry.

After a few moments of thrashing around on the wet, violently swaying deck, Harry managed to regain stability and lifted himself onto his hands and knees. He looked up towards the quarter deck, and as another bolt of lightening flashed, illuminating the whole scene before him, a single, sparkling eye caught his attention.

Malfoy.

“Hallo, Potter! Enjoying this fine weather?” Captain Malfoy yelled loud enough for Harry to hear over the storm. He raised his arms to the sky and laughed into the tempest.

Harry picked up his fallen sword and wand and stiffly got to his feet, staring at his most hated enemy. Malfoy stared back, a smirk on his face, his one good eye unwavering and a patch where the other should be. His arms returned to fold over his expensive coat. Sometime during the battle, his hat had whipped off his head from the wind, and his long hair shown silver and stringy as the thick drops of rain pounded down upon it. Harry tucked his wand into his breeches pocket and slowly lifted his hand to the scar on his forehead. It pulsed. Malfoy’s smirk faded and Harry became lost in that one single eye. Oh, how he wished he could pin Malfoy down and take a knife to his throat, or cut out the remaining dazzling eye…

“CAPTAIN HARRY!” someone shrieked, and Harry jumped out of his strange reverie. A whirring noise came from the right, and he quickly ducked, barely in time, as a sharp, flashing cutlass streaked through the space where his neck had been only moments before. He blindly kicked out backwards and made contact with what had to be a peg-leg. As whoever he’d kicked struggled to keep his balance, Harry glanced once more at the quarter deck before turning his attention back to the battle, but Malfoy had vanished. What’s wrong with me? I’m going to get myself killed if I don’t pay attention…

Fighting past a few more men, Harry made his way toward the quarter deck. Suddenly, the ship careened violently to the side, knocking a few men into the water, and he grabbed onto the main mast. As the boat righted itself there came a loud crack and the foremast snapped, the wood moaning as it crashed into the starboard side of the ship. Men were screaming and reaching for any handholds they could find. The boat lurched again, waves striking into all surfaces of the brigantine, shards of wood flinging in all directions.

“Avast ye!” Harry cried loudly to his remaining crew, realizing the immediate threat they were in. “Back to the Gryffin!”

Harry let go of the main mast and a wave slammed him into the railing on the side near his own ship. He gasped as he saw the devastation on his own dear brigantine. “Oh God…” A few of his men were at the railing with him and he helped them to jump onto the other ship. On the Gryffin, Ron helped the men on the deck after their jump. He caught Harry’s eye and gave him a toothy grin before the Serpent lurched once again and Harry disappeared from sight.

As the ship lurched once more, Harry was thrown backwards, and there no longer being a rail on the other side of the ship, fell into the battering waves. He swam to the surface and took a deep breath, breathing in warm salty water and choking. Over the white froth of the waves he saw the sides of the Serpent and he was pushed farther and farther away. He could see the masts of his own ship, still proudly standing, until lightning hit the main mast. Harry cried out, choking on more water. He frantically tried swimming back towards the ill-fated ships but it only tired him more. A fire had started on his Gryffin.

He had one last glimpse before a mighty wave crashed over the top of him and he succumbed into darkness.