For Rasiaa.
Dudley is six years old when he first decides he wants to be a pirate. He lunges at his cousin with his wooden sword. Harry's sword had been knocked out of his hand several minutes before, so he's just trying to dodge's Dudley's attacks.
He enjoys when Harry yelps in pain when the sword hits the skin. Harry's eyes well up with unshed tears. "Cheater. You're no better than a pirate."
If cheating made him a pirate, well, there are worse things to be. After all, pirates don't need saving; they're their own heroes.
Dudley is ten years old when his father is killed. News of it comes in the form of a man with blond hair and cruel eyes who sneers at his mother as he unsympathetically delivers the news. Moments after the news, the man says, "Your husband owed the Death Eaters quite a bit of gold. Unless you want to end up like him, you'll find the way to pay the debt."
It's clear that this man is enjoying his mother's grief. Anger and humiliation courses through his veins and he lunges forward with every intention of doing something—what it is, he doesn't quite know—to the man.
His mother cries out his name as the man traps Dudley's arms behind his back just shy of painful, ready to break his arms at a moment's notice. "You've got guts, kid, I'll give you that," the man says, sounding mildly impressed. "In the future, if you'd like to keep your life, you should really learn when to attack and when to accept defeat. This is a moment where you accept defeat and I decide not to break your arm."
If anything, the man's words adds more kindling to the fire in his veins. "Go to hell," he growls.
The next thing he registers is the pain radiating from his arm. He may or may not have screamed through the pain; he's honestly not sure because those few minutes are a blur of pain. He knows the man has broken his arm. He's shoved towards his mother, causing him to lose his balance, which he automatically tries to use his arms to keep upright. That only agitates his broken arm.
He's very aware that the man says something to his mother, but he can't hear it over the blood rushing in his ears. His mother guides him to the doctor in town who sets his arm so it can heal properly. His mother pays with the only copper pieces the man allowed her to keep. All he can think about is what are they going to do without the inheritance that was supposed to be waiting for them if his dad were to die.
A seed of hatred is planted in his mind for the man who made his mother cry and broke his arm. He's going to make that man pay.
Dudley spends the next six years only thinking about two things: revenge and how to help his mother gather enough silver to pay his father's debt. The Death Eaters demand a high price each month and even with Dudley doing every odd job he can find, they barely have enough copper leftover to sustain themselves; it fuels his hatred of the man.
The ship he works as a deckhand finally docks after nearly two months at sea. He'll be glad to get back on land. He tends to worry about his mother when he's out at sea. There would be nothing stopping the Death Eaters from attacking her.
He takes the proffered coin purse and his runsack and heads home. Piers is waiting at the docks for him and wordlessly walks alongside Dudley. "How was the trip?"
Dudley shrugs. His clothes are dirty and smell like the sea. The ones in his runsacm are in even worse shape, but he doesn't have the silver to buy new clothing. "Just like the last five—cold, wet, and exhausting. They need to pay me more than a few copper pieces for weeks of work."
Piers gives him a look of understanding. He doesn't pity Dudley even though he doesn't truly know how bad it is to barely survive each month, which Dudley is grateful for. He doesn't know how he would handle a best friend who pities him.
"They didn't harm my mother while I was away, did they?" he asks.
When his friend doesn't respond immediately, Dudley stops and stares at Piers, silently willing the other boy to speak.
"Selwyn," Piers starts, clearly uneasy, "well, he—she knocked into him and he didn't take it too kindly. I was at work and only heard about it after."
"What did he do?" he demands in a low, tight voice.
Piers shifts his weight. He's attempting to stutter his way through his way through the answer when Dudley just shakes his head.
He turns on his heels, his tattered boots digging into the mud left by the recent rain, and starts heading back towards the city. At this point, he doesn't even have to know what happened. He's going to make Selwyn pay for whatever he done.
Piers struggles to keep up and he keeps asking where Dudley is headed. Then when the other boy notices the blacksmith's shop up ahead, he falls quiet.
Dudley marches into the shop with Piers hot on his heels. Without warning, Dudley grabs Selwyn be the back of his tunic and forces him to turn around. "High noon tomorrow."
There's a bit of fear in the other boy's eyes and he revels in it, knowing that he is feared. He's always known that he wasn't a good person, and it just cements that knowledge when he's more than willing to kill Selwyn. He turns and leaves. The walk to his house is quiet. Dudley bids Piers a good night as he goes to check on his mother.
The next day, at high noon, Dudley holds his borrowed sword as he walks into town centre. There's a large crowd gathered around them. He's mildly surprised that Selwyn turns up, but he supposes a duel demand in front of others would do the trick; he'd have to accept to keep his honor.
The Blacksmith counts from three, and his duel begins. This isn't like duelling his cousin when he was younger. Selwyn is a decent swordsmen, and Dudley is not. Within a few moves, Selwyn has Dudley disarmed.
Dudley's veins alight with fury. He throws himself at Selwyn, throwing the boy off guard when he was expected to concede the duel or die. He tackles Selwyn to the ground and starts punching him in the face.
He's not sure how long before he was pulled off Selwyn, but his knuckles are raw and bloody and Selwyn face is swollen. "You go anywhere near my mother again and you won't live to see the next morning," he threatens.
Selwyn's eyes are barely opened but Dudley can see the terror in them. Good. He won't stand for someone hurting his mother.
Once Dudley starts using his fists and sword to get his way, he finds that they fear him. There's even a small part of Piers that fears him too. It's much easier to negotiate a pay in raise and promotions when people are afraid of telling him 'no'.
Within two years, Dudley captains the Gold Dutchess—a ship named for the golden haired mermaid on the bow. He brings Piers on board as his First Mate, because they are getting paid far more than they were and he likes working with his best friend. As a gift for his new title, Piers buys him a black hat and a new pair of boots.
He stands at the sponson as his crew weighs the anchor and get everything ready for leaving the port. It's a nice day, with blue skies as far as they can see and calm waters. The Gold Dutchess cuts through the water easily as Dudley guides her out of the port and into the open sea.
They are on their way to deliver cargo in Africa when Dudley sees the pirate flag flying from the ship they are going to need to pass in order to continue. Instead of the usual skull and crossbones, the black flag has a skull with a snake coming out of it. There's absolutely no denying that it's the mark of the Death Eaters.
Anger he hasn't felt in years boils under his skin. He has never had the opportunity to seek his revenge. He's been climbing up in the Royal Navy, from the Deckhand to Captain, sending most of the money he earns to his mother. With his growing wealth, he's been able to buy new, fancier clothes, and to buy luxury items. It had quenched the urge for revenge, because how could he help his mother if he was an outlaw?
But now, the debate between to attack or not is easy. It doesn't matter that if he were to order an attack without the proper authorization, regardless of whether it's on a pirate ship or not, he'll condemn not just himself but his crew to being labelled as pirates. He wants revenge. He needs it.
"Man the cannons!" he calls loudly.
His men don't move to follow the command. From his right, Piers shoots him a questioning look. "Why?"
"I don't have to explain my orders," he snaps. He gives his crew a glare. "I said, man the cannons."
His men must hear the warning in his tone because they hurry to follow the order. Dudley points to the man closest to him beyond his traitorous First Mate.
"You, get the boarding ramps ready," he says.
The man, who looks far younger than the 15 years requirement, bolts below deck to follow that order.
If Dudley didn't have to navigate the Gold Dutchess into cannon range, he would demand to know what the hell Piers was thinking by questioning his orders. He'll deal with that later. He focuses on keeping the helm steady.
Piers must realize there is no talking Dudley out of his decision because he calls out his own command. "Load the cannons!"
Despite being wary of the orders, the men comply. The pirate ship must have decided that the Gold Dutchess wouldn't attack or they didn't have the time because before they possibly could have returned fire, Dudley's crew has taken the ship.
There is only one man left alive. Dudley gives him a victorious grin. "Now, this is what you're going to do," he says, stalking until he's toe to toe with the remaining Death Eater. "You're going to tell Voldemort that I'm coming for him. You tell him that I will personally bring about the destruction of the Death Eaters."
The Death Eater goes to spit at him but Dudley is quick to punch him, hard. He spits blood towards Dudley, which he's expecting and avoid. The man gives him a toothy smile that is more blood than teeth. "You couldn't be more of an idiot."
Dudley gives him a smirk as he huffs out a laugh. "It would only be stupidity if I fail."
Since the Gold Dutchess' crew has been declared pirates, Dudley has to look for other options to finance the cannon balls, gunpowder, and food. He finds customers in the dirtiest, most questionable cities that are known for their illegal activities. It's not the greatest and these cities make his skin crawl, but him and his crew have to eat.
His crew are loading the cages of red pandas onto the Gold Dutchess, when Dudley realizes that the number of red pandas on the ship versus the final requirement is off by at least a cage, maybe two. He orders his crew to search the surrounded forest for signs of the missing cages while he watches over the recount.
Not long before sunset, his crew shoves an older man in front of him then adds a cage of red pandas to their stacks of cages. The man is wearing a long blue coat and had a defiant gleam in his eyes. "We found him trying to release the red pandas."
"Is that so?" he drawls. He is a little surprised that a man of his age would be that daring; he always viewed those men that reached forty and older to be a bit fragile.
"Red pandas aren't meant to be pets," the man growls passionately.
Dudley feels the corner of his lips twitching. He's always enjoyed it when people fought back. "What's your name?"
"Newt Scamander," he replies.
"Well, you made a huge mistake, Mr Scamander," Dudley says conversationally. "You see, we happen to have a job to do and you're interfering with it. Which is a problem."
Newt doesn't even looked scared. Dudley respects his courage a little. "Red pandas aren't meant to be caged for the entertainment of people."
Dudley shrugs indifferently. "Be that as it may, we were hired to transport these for a very large profit and I can't have anyone interfering, unluckily for you."
Piers come to stand next to him, looking at the man. He gestures for Dudley to lean closer. When he does, Piers whispers, "I've heard word that he works with the Royal Navy."
Dudley swears. While they may sail under a pirate flag, Dudley refuses to attack the members of the Royal Navy unless they attack first. He wants revenge on the Death Eaters, not to kill men who are just serving their country. He's not sure what an animal lover would do in the Navy, but he supposes he can spare his life.
"Get off my ship," Dudley commands. When, instead of leaving, Newt looks towards the red pandas, Dudley repeats his command a little harsher. When the man still doesn't move, Dudley is considering changing his mind. He turns and stalks towards the helm. "Get him off my ship and those red pandas on it. I want out of China before midnight."
It's the moment Dudley has been waiting for for two years since the rivalry had started between his crew and the Death Eaters. He's lost many good men, but for each one them Death Eaters killed, they had killed two of the Death Eaters.
He's standing in the middle of the half-destroyed ship, with a blond man on his knees before him. He'd recognize the man anywhere; he couldn't forget his first encounter. The man's blond hair may be greying with age and balding, but his voice is exactly the same as it was when Dudley was ten years old.
His lips curl into a cruel smile. It feels like a prophecy is coming true. He's spent the better half of his adult life working towards this moment—taking revenge on Rosier for his cruelty a decade ago. He would interrogate all the surviving Death Eaters about the man, until one had given the name of which Death Eater and another the location where he could find him.
"Get on with it then," Rosier goads. "Kill me."
Dudley laughs. "Why would I kill you when there are other options?"
Dudley revels in the fear that appears in Rosier's eyes. Rosier fights against Dudley's men as they secure chains around the man's wrists.
"You see, we're in need of a new creature at the bow of our ship. Well, we think you're the perfect creature for that, don't we boys?" he asks, a smile crossing his face.
The men gleefully drag Rosier—who is screaming, crying, begging—towards the bow of the ship. Dudley feels accomplished as they strap him to the bow.
Dudley turns on his heels to head towards the helm when he sees Piers. He has a look of disapproval on his face that Dudley doesn't understand. Piers knows about what Rosier did to him, to his mother. How could he not approve?
Dudley snaps out of the vision when he tries to breathe. His lungs burn with water. He starts kicking, trying to send himself upward to no avail. I need a miracle to get away, he thinks.
A beautiful woman, with eyes as green as the sea and hair as dark as the night, runs a finger down his cheek comfortingly, holding him close. "Shhh, little one. Don't try to fight this feeling."
Her voice is so enchanting that he goes slack. "That's right," she soothes. "You're a fierce pirate who makes Rosier beg for mercy."
The water burns his lungs, but he can't bring himself to care. Not when this beautiful woman is stroking his cheek and telling him everything he's ever wanted to hear. He can visualize everything she's singing about perfectly.
In the moment right before death, Dudley's life comes racing back to him. He had been foolish, believing he could sail through no man's waters. They had told him of the beautiful Sirens that lived there and how nobody ever sailed out of it alive. He hadn't believed them because he was young and naive.
He wasn't ever a pirate, like he dreamed he would be at six; he's always just been a fool.
MOS: (character) Dudley, (genre) au, (title) this is a tale of falling
365: 80. Creature - Siren
Insane: 599. Creature - Siren
Resolutions: write 50 stories, write a fic exploring one character only - no pairings.
Scavenger hunt: Write a fic set in/at sea
Gobstones: pink - deception; accuracy - (object) hat, power - (dialogue) "I need a miracle.", technique - (color) gold
Library Lover: Harry Potter - (word) Prophecy, (relationship) Best friends, (plot point) Good vs evil
Serpents: Hopi rattlesnake- (word) fragile
Cards: Cheat - write about deception
Lent: No romance.
Fairytale: Puss In Boots - Object: Boots, Trope: Rags to Riches, Word: Inheritance
Character appreciation: (word) rivalry
Disney: Rags to Riches - Write a rags to riches!AU
Book club: Trashcan Man - (word) fire, (word) destruction, (color) black
Showtime: Something Bad - (character) Newt Scamander
A year in entertainment: Song: "Hey Ya!" by OutKast - (dialogue) "Don't try to fight this feeling."
Liza's Loves: Navy Grog - Write a pirate AU
February writing month wc: 2852