A/N: This story will take some information and characters from the book Rise of the Isle of the Lost. I plan for the one-shots to mostly be in order, but they will jump around in time a bit sometimes.

Enthralled

Harry began following Uma around and doing her bidding about the time the two of them learned to walk. It was when they were seven that he knew he'd made the right decision.

~.~

"I'm so bored," Uma growled, knocking a hat rack over into the street.

"We haven't done much with all the rain this week," Harry agreed, carefully stepping over the mess and ignoring the outraged look of the hat seller. They were the children of Ursula and Captain Hook. However upset islanders might become with their antics, few were likely to do more than yell at them, maybe chase them a bit. And without the yelling and chasing, there'd be little fun in ruining people's days.

Uma let out another growl as she looked up at the gray clouds threatening another shower. It had poured heavily almost non-stop for days, keeping most people cooped up inside. Uma didn't do well cooped up and the two of them were taking advantage of the slight break in the weather. However, most people were still hiding from the coming rain, leaving the pair few targets to harass.

Uma altered their course to stomp through mud puddles and splash the few other people out. Harry followed along, happy to jump in the mud and splatter the dresses of Drizella and Anastasia. The two women, who still liked to pretend they were ladies of the court, snarled something nasty at Harry and Uma. He grinned at them and kept going. Uma hadn't even seemed to notice the ire of the two women.

"We could do our homework," he suggested, not in the slightest bit serious. No one on the Isle did their homework. Not even the teachers expected the students to do their homework. Villains never did extra work.

Uma's annoyed look told him just how little she thought of his joke. He shrugged unconcernedly. He knew Uma well enough to know that once her mood became this dark, almost nothing would lift her out of it.

"Maybe there'd be more people to annoy on the other side of the Isle," Harry suggested, mouth full of a meat pie he'd nicked when they walked past a baker trying to entice customers into his grungy shop. "And Jay knows all the best places to steal from over there."

Uma stopped suddenly and Harry almost ran into her. "Maybe we could meet up with Mal," Uma said, then threw a scowl up at the sky. "If we don't get rained out first."

Harry was glad Uma was looking at the sky. It meant she missed the look on his face when she said they could meet up with Mal. He had never been fond of the purple-haired girl. For one thing, when Uma was able to spend time with Mal it meant she spent less time with him. Mal lived on the opposite side of the Isle, which meant the two girls could mostly only get together when school was out. During school it was all Harry and Uma, but when school was out it felt like all Mal and Uma.

For another, Harry was sure the partnership between Uma and Mal couldn't last. They were daughters of two of the most frightening villains on the Isle and they probably had the most forceful personalities of all the kids on the Isle. He was sure that sooner or later this would lead to a confrontation between the two and a fight to see who the best was. Jay had even told Harry that he should leave Uma and get behind Mal, because she was going to become queen of the Isle. That conversation had ended with the two boys on the ground, pummeling each other. Harry had forgotten about that until this moment.

"Maybe we shouldn't go to the other side of the Isle," he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rounding his shoulders in disappointment. "We'll 'probly get stuck in some smelly ally trying to avoid the rain."

Uma kicked a rock in frustration. It sailed through the air until it hit the back of the head of someone cloaked in gray.

Harry's amused grin immediately evaporated as the victim of the rock swung around. Wild gray hair poked out all around the hood of the cloak, though none of it protruded as far out as the long, crooked nose of the witch. Though none of the old hags had their magic anymore, many of them had kept their taste for young children. Unattended kids in the market tended to go missing, and everyone knew they ended up in some witches' cooking pot.

Swallowing hard, Harry looked around and realized the only people present were witches cloaked in gray, and all their hungry eyes were on Harry and Uma.

"Uh, Uma, maybe we should get out of here?" Harry suggested, voice low as he pulled on the back of Uma's shirt. The rain started falling again, lightly at first but would undoubtedly turn into a downpour at any moment.

"Why?" Uma growled, spinning around to face him.

He kept his eyes on the witches creeping closer. "I just think it would be a good idea." He was sure they could outrun these old hags. At least, if they got a head start they could.

Gnarled hands with fingernails caked in something Harry really didn't want to guess at landed heavily on Harry's shoulders. "Yes, why leave so soon, boy?" A harsh voice asked in his ear. "We're so fond of little children, aren't we? Even the nasty ones this Isle breeds. Won't you let us give you some candy?"

Uma stared at the witch, looking unimpressed. Harry really felt she should have looked a bit more worried. The witches were some of the very few who would risk crossing their parents. Their names were no protection for them here.

"Let him go," Uma ordered, as bossy with the witches as she was with the kids at school.

The witched cackled. "And what will you give me if I do, dearie? You know nothing on the Isle is free." The witch kept her hands on Harry's shoulders, but moved away enough for him to see her lick her lips as her gaze jumped between Harry and Uma. "Would you like to take his place?"

Uma smiled darkly. "I won't take his place, but I will give you something."

Harry caught sight of something glinting in Uma's hands before she lunged forward and slashed at the witch. He gaped as he realized it was a knife from her mother's restaurant in her hands. It was long and heavy, with rust on the edges.

The witch shrieked as she let go of Harry's shoulder's, hands jumping to clasp at her stomach instead, trying to keep blood and thicker things from spilling out. Uma had cut deep.

A resounding cry echoed around them, the other witches screeching as though they themselves had been cut. The witch who Uma had hit with her rock lunged for her, twisted hands outstretched. Ducking around the hag's reach, Uma plunged the knife into the witches' stomach before jumping back.

Harry stood behind Uma, trying not to gape as she held the bloody knife out in a threat, legs bent, body almost bouncing with unleashed energy. The rain began coming down harder, but Uma kept her focus on the threat standing a few yards away. The stabbed witches clutched their stomachs in agony and writhed between them and the other witches, providing a macabre sort of barrier.

Harry knew he should be watched the threat too, but he couldn't. All his focus was on Uma. She looked…amazing. In his eyes, Uma had always shone brighter than anyone else on the Isle. There was simply more to her presence than those who shuffled through their lives, dejected and hopeless. That spark was what had attracted Harry to Uma in the first place, even before he'd understood why, but she'd never looked more brilliant than she did at that moment. Harry was enthralled.

There were three witches left, but after exchanging wary looks, they grabbed their fallen comrades and dragged them along behind them, deciding that Uma and her knife was really more than they were prepared to mess with.

Once the witches disappeared from sight, Uma put her knife back to wherever she'd pulled it from and continued on her way, ignoring the rain.

Harry grinned and followed, his mood brighter than it had been all week. He didn't know who would win between Mal and Uma when their inevitable confrontation came, but he did know that Mal had never disemboweled a witch before.