Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. For Heaven's sake, I don't even own the idea for this AU… It occurred to me while reading A sword fight or two and Treasure of Gryffindor. I don't own the fragment of the song at the beginning of the chapter, either, or the sentence from "Singin' in the rain" (let's see if someone spots it!). So I only own this permutation of words from the dictionary and Rowling's books.

Warning: I'm not a native English speaker, so this is a translation of my fic Nunca hagas enfadar a una pelirroja. If you speak Spanish I'd recommend you to read that one; I'm sure it's much better.

Beta and translation helper: my mother.

Dedicated to lumoscrimsom.

Pero si me dan a elegir,

Entre todas las vidas yo escojo

La del pirata cojo con pata de palo,

Con parche en el ojo, con cara de malo…

(But if they let me choose,

Between every possible life I'd choose

That of the pirate with a wooden leg,

With an eye patch and an evil look…)

Joaquín Sabina, "La del pirata cojo"

It all started at a small tavern at Phoenix Island. Severus and I were having the last drinks we could afford when we heard some port officers talking about the imminent departure of Dumbledore's privateers. We only needed a glance to know that we were thinking the same thing: ships that have spent a long time on shore usually need new crew, specially pirate ships, due to their dangerous lifestyle. It was perfect for us, too. I've already said that we were penniless, and being pirates was our dream since we were kids. Sev's dad was a buccaneer, and during his sporadic visits he loved to tell us about his adventures, filling our young minds with hidden treasures, faraway countries, bold boardings and last minute escapes.

Unfortunately, by the time we were old enough to enlist, even as cabin boys, the pirate's golden era was gone. Every great name had been hanged, killed in battle or, like Dumbledore, had accepted the royal pardon and were almost retired. The only important freebooter who was still active was Voldemort (Lord Voldemort, he liked to call himself, but believe me: he was as much a nobleman as I was a fine lady), and I would never join him. Yeah, I know it's a little ironic given that I just said I'd love to be a pirate, but I have morals, and Voldemort was way out of line. Killing a ship's crew in fair fight (ok, maybe the 'fair' part depends on your point of view, but at least some kind of fight!) is acceptable, but slaying an entire village, including old people and children… that's a completely different story. It's that kind of actions that give this noble occupation its bad name.

Long story short, we approached the officials and in less than two rounds we had gathered all the information we needed. Apparently the one in charge of the recruiting process was a person called "The Sorting Hat". It was quite an unusual method, but Dumbledore was known to be really eccentric, so we just supposed it was another one of his anomalies and we didn't worry about it. He was acknowledged as the best buccaneer since Henry Morgan, after all, so who were we to question his methods? Without further hesitation we got on our way.

The moment we stepped into the inn where this "Hat" lived (Hogwarts, I think it was called), we understood why the officials had refused to give us a more detailed description, saying that we just needed the name. Leaning on the bar top was a very small man with the biggest Mexican hat I've ever seen. It had to be him. We approached him, pretty confidently in Severus' case, a little more apprehensively in mine. (His surname could be a big responsibility sometimes, but in cases like this it was a good letter of introduction...) We explained to him that we wanted to enrol. He looked at us with eyes that saw into our very souls and smiled.

-Welcome aboard- he said-. Some fresh ideas are always welcome, and we do need a few more sailors. I think the best will be for Snape to enlist on the Slytherin and the young lady (Lily, right?) on the Gryffindor. The crew on the Slytherin is quite superstitious, and with eyes as green as yours I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to lynch you, saying that you are a witch… and we don't want that to happen, right? Oh, and one more thing: if I were you I'd hurry to get my things and embark, because the vessels are supposed to set sail tomorrow with the first tide.

So that's how in the blink of an eye we found ourselves going to the port, on our way to accomplish a lifelong dream. I have to admit, though, that my enthusiasm was shaded by the disappointment I felt due to the fact that I wasn't going to be on the same ship as Sev. It wasn't the first time we parted ways, obviously (you can't expect every vessel to need two new sailors at the same time!), but I never thought we would have to separate at this point. Together we had decided to be pirates, and together I had always thought we would make it. I found consolation in thinking that we were part of the same fleet, after all, so we probably wouldn't end very far away from each other…

I was musing on that when we ran into a couple of boys who immediately started mocking Severus. They laughed at his clothes, his hair (yeah, it's greasy, but it isn't his fault!), the way he walked… More or less, everything they could think about. I wanted to stop and have a few words with them (and maybe a little more than words), but my friend grabbed my arm and dragged me away from them, saying that they weren't worth our time. Apparently he knew them from a trip several years back, and in his opinion they were just egocentric idiots. I always admired how calmly he took insults: I admit that without him I would have spent some nights behind bars.

When we arrived to the deck we said our goodbyes and set for the boats that were going to be our homes for the next months (they weren't difficult to find: Slytherin's figurehead was a cobra and Gryffindor's was a roaring lion). The first person I saw once I went on board was a tanned boy, tall and thin, more or less my own age, who was busy tidying up some ropes. He introduced himself as Remus Lupin, the first mate. When he found out what I wanted he excused himself for a moment and went to find the Captain, saying that I'd have to sign some papers before setting sail and leaving me terribly nervous. I was going to meet Captain McGonagall in person, Albus Dumbledore's left hand until he retired and a living legend among pirates! If half the things I knew about her were true, she was the bravest person ever and she had performed impossible deeds. I was expecting to see a young, athletic woman, so I was quite surprised when I found that she was middle aged, with a tight bun and a strict look, and looked more like a teacher at a lady's school than like a captain at a privateer's boat. Only the casualness with which she carried her sabre and something feline about her movements gave away her true career. With her came a motherly-looking woman, who was introduced to me as Madam Pomfrey, the ship's surgeon.

We didn't spend too much time with bureaucracy. If I'm completely honest, I would have signed almost anything to get into that boat, and the contract was like every other I'd ever seen: it stated how the decisions were made, how much we were going to earn, how the bounty would be distributed (just in case there was one)… There was only one clause I had never seen before, that held that no one was to run and leave a comrade helpless, no matter what. Once we had finished, McGonagall called the rest of the crew to the deck to introduce them to me. They were a small group, but very diverse. 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the gunner, was the stereotypical buccaneer: gruff and covered with scars, he had a wooden leg and a glass eye that he liked to roll whenever he got the chance. The only other woman, Marlene McKinnon, was gorgeous, with ebony skin, big blue eyes and an even bigger smile that moved with that grace only posessed by those from the Caribbean, making everyone turn around to watch her as she passed by. The cook, Peter Pettigrew, was exactly the opposite. Short and chubby, he had the admirable ability (it was really very useful!) to mold with the environment and not be seen. And last but not least, Gideon and Fabian, the Prewett twins, so alike that even now I find it difficult to tell them apart.

Later that day, while I was helping Marlene, Mad-Eye and Remus to load the gunpowder barrels I suddenly heard a voice saying: -Well, it looks like we've finally enlisted a woman worthy of me! – and I felt an arm wrapping around my waist. For a moment everything turned red. I recognized that tone, so conceited and full of itself; it was the same whose owner Severus had forced me to spare not so long ago. In the blink of an eye he had a dagger on his throat and an arm behind his back. –If you try to touch me ever again I'll cut your balls and hang them on the mast, am I making myself clear?- I growled, thrilled to see a mixture of fear, respect and a bit of admiration cross his eyes as he nodded. It wasn't until I broke eye contact and let him drop that I realized all the on-lookers were laughing their heads off. –You're right, mate, that's indeed a girl worthy of you! - sniggered the other stranger.-How much time has passed since someone rejected you, since you were four?-

-Lily, these are our resident troublemakers – I heard Remus say-. The one you have threatened so enthusiastically is James Potter, and this one over here is Sirius Black. Guys, this is Lily Evans, our new recruit. Although something makes me think you had already met, judging on your reactions… Well, boys, what's new on shore? Did you find anything interesting?-

While the others chatted, I took my time to get a good look at them (till then I was too busy planning how to torture them slowly and painfully to think about their appearance). Like Moody, Sirius looked as if he had popped from a pirate's novel, but this time from one of those stupid love stories my friends liked to read when we were little. He had jet black hair tied on a loose ponytail, a golden earring and features like a Greek statue. He was handsome, if he was your type. He reminded me too much of a porcelain figure, so dressed up and so perfect. Potter, on the other hand, seemed as if he had just woken up. While Black wore an embroidered justacorps and a feathered hat, he stood his ground with a simple white shirt. Truth be told, if he hadn't had that air of superiority, he would have been a pretty attractive boy, with his mop of messy hair and his glasses.

We hadn't been there for long when McGonagall arrived, probably having heard the ruckus the newcomers were making. I couldn't help but notice the way they squared up when she reminded them, with an ice-cold voice, that they were supposed to go to her cabin as soon as they were on board. Then, without any delay, she asked them what their orders were. Presented with this question, James chuckled and answered:

-His Lordship the Great Governor of the Phoenix Island Sir Albus Dumbledore's orders are simple: we have to find, defeat and capture, dead or alive, Lord Voldemort.

A/N: Well, what do you think? This is my first fanfiction, as well as my first attempt of a long story (and at romance), so I'll appreciate any criticism, especially elaborated ones. I promise that the only ones I won't take into account are going to be the sexist/homophobic/racist/the likes ones. Let's see if you are nicer that my Spanish readers, so long I haven't got any reviews, and it's kind of disappointing… :(