Aleka

Prelude

"Where's my husband," screamed the massive woman in labor. Captain Weller looked away. Her husband had gotten into a duel with one of the other shipmates, and was killed. He could not tell this to the woman bearing his son though.

"Where's my husband," she cried, squeezing on to the captain's hand. Nobody said a word. For thirteen hours the woman had been in labor. She had been through a great deal. The pirates had captured her family because the woman's husband could not pay off his debt. Instead of killing the man, they made him work on the ship. The pirates forced him to bring his wife so that he would have a constant reminder of what a failure he was. To make matters worse, his wife was pregnant, and it was painful for her.

Finally, the baby was out. The woman took her in her own arms. The woman felt so weak. It had taken so much out of her to give birth to this little miracle. She started to breathe heavily.

"I will... I will name... I will name her ...," she took a deep breath, "Aleka." With that the woman fell back onto the bed. She had breathed her last.

Aleka stood on the deck of the magnificent ship "Careen". Her wavy black hair with an exuberant red color which was streaked in it whipped around her face as the salty air blew. Her silver eyes glimmered in the light of the bright sun. Her mind drifted back to her days only one and a half years ago, when she was told that her one true companion was gone. She had been told that a vicious enemy of the Leika, her own crew, had slayed him in an attempt to steal the cargo that he had been carrying. Truthfully, he was more than a companion to Aleka. They had been raised together, taught to fight as well as thieve the same way any pirate would. They had been so close. But he was gone now; he was only a wistful memory.

"Aleka, Aleka," said a voice which pulled Aleka back to the present. Aleka turned around to see Twitch. Twitch was nicknamed so because he was finicky, and he often couldn't sit still. He had an accent that always made Aleka laugh, though not because she was making fun of him. Twitch's accent always stressed the letter "a," and it came out as "ah." Twitch was seventeen years of age, tall, and lanky. He wasn't what would be considered handsome, but he was a wonderful friend to Aleka. He always tried to keep his appearances though. His dirty blonde hair was always well kept, (though being on a ship did not make it easy) and he always shaved.

"Aleka, were you thinking about Briar again?" "Dammit," she thought, "He caught me again."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just can't help it."

"You don't have to apologize to me," he said while his hands fidgeted. "You know, it would do you a lot of good if you concentrated on something else." Before Aleka could answer, Lucas Brushat walked onto the deck.

"Well, looky here, if it isn't my two favorite people, Aleka the Ass and her fearful sidekick, TWITCH!" Lucas said mockingly.

"What is your problem?" asked Twitch. "We ain't done anything to you."

"Really," said Lucas, "You're my problem. You prance around here like you belong and fit in, but truthfully you are just the daughter of a poor father and a weak mother. I don't know why they didn't just throw you overboard. You don't know anything." Twitch looked confused. He didn't realize that Lucas was speaking to Aleka. Aleka was ready to show him a little something she knew, but right then, Captain Weller walked onto the deck.

"Ah, it be a great day for going treasure hunting," he said with a fake pirate accent. He immediately saw the glares between Lucas and Aleka and he dropped the accent.

"What is going on here?" he said.

"Oh nothing," said Lucas, "We were just practicing sword fighting. I know nobody uses it anymore, but you know Aleka and I share the same interest in it." Captain Weller looked at Aleka for a confirmation.

"O ya," said Aleka putting her arm around Lucas, "We just love it."

"Well I am glad you kind find something to do," said Weller. "By the way Aleka, there is a letter here for you. It was the weirdest thing. You may say I am going crazy, but I do believe that an owl dropped it near me. I must be getting old. I think it is from some place called Hagworts or Hogglewort. I don't know." He handed Aleka the letter. She took it with her arm still around Lucas. As soon as he left, Aleka took Lucas's arm, twisted it, and flipped him over.

"You Bitch!" he said.

"There is a little something that I DO know," said Aleka, and with that she left to read her letter alone in her cabin. Twitch still stood there wondering why Aleka had put her arm around Lucas.

Chapter 2:

Aleka sat on her bed, staring down at the letter in her hand. It was made of the funniest paper like a parchment. The letters were all neatly printed with black ink in calligraphy. She heard footsteps outside her door. Twitch had probably just figured out why she was pretending to be nice to Lucas.

"Aleka, are you in there?" called Twitch's voice. She had predicted correctly.

"Yeah, come in," she answered.

"Hey, you ok?" asked Twitch sensitively.

"Uh huh, I'm good," she answered a bit distracted. She couldn't stand it any longer. Aleka opened the letter. Inside she saw an elegant handwritten letter. It read:

Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Aleka...

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Note: We know you don't have the slightest idea what we are talking about, but if you'd like answers about Briar...

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await you owl by no later that July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Hermoine Weasley

P.S. - Excuse me for asking dear, but what is your last name?

Aleka was shocked. She didn't understand anything except the part about Briar. She laughed at the end. Aleka didn't even know her own last name. She had always been Aleka. She thought for a moment. It started to become clear to her. This place, Hogwarts, knew about Briar, and they wanted her to go there to study magic. It was crazy. Did she know magic? Well, stuff always seemed to happen that she couldn't explain. Like that time she had to swab the decks because of something that Lucas did. He came out to laugh at her and mysteriously found himself floating in the air over that salty sea bare butt naked. She was the only one on the deck until Lucas' screams brought the whole crew. She couldn't explain what had happened all she knew was that she was laughing so hard she couldn't see straight. But she couldn't know magic? Could she? And why the hell didn't they find her earlier? Suddenly, Twitch interrupted.

"They know about Briar?" he said with a skeptic look. "How much can they know, he is dead. And Aleka, I don't want you getting your hopes up. This could just be a really mean practical joke or something. You're not seriously going to go there, are you? I mean Weller would never let you."

"I know he wouldn't," she snapped, "But they can tell me about Briar."

"How do you know if they are really telling the truth?" questioned Twitch.

"I just know. I just have a feeling in the pit of my stomach," replied Aleka. Twitch paused a moment.

"You know Aleka, you did just have a large meal, that could be seasickness," Twitch said trying to avoid what he knew was coming. Twitch was not a coward, but this was not on his list of favorite things to do.

"No, I know what it is, and besides there is only one way to find out if they are telling the truth."

"We've got to go to Hogwarts don't we?" Twitch squeaked so pitifully that Aleka almost laughed. He didn't even need an answer. He could tell by the look on Aleka's face that they were headed to Hogwarts.