Welcome all to my new story. I hope you will enjoy it. As you probably have already guessed, this is a pirate story with Ginny and Harry as the protagonists. I'm Dutch, so I would appreciate all feedback on the grammar and use of words and you're also welcome to comment on the story itself.
All I can say now is: enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by JK Rowling. This disclaimer is in effect for the whole story.

The Pirate and the Lady

Chapter 1

Atlantic Ocean, 1647

The salty wind played with the few locks of hair that had escaped her hairdo. It filled her nose with the overpowering smell and it made her perfectly aware that she was at sea, for the first time on a ship since she was five and had come to Port Royal. Happily she brushed a lock behind her ear and took another breath of air. Ginevra Weasley was enjoying her time on the Gloria.

The crew was working around her: cleaning the deck, stacking up ropes and climbing into the mast to adjust sails. After a few days she had gotten used to the bustle around her and she paid them no attention, until a rough voice was heard from her right.

"Oh, excuse me, miss." The rough voice did not suit the boy. She could not call him a man yet, as he seemed to not have passed the age of thirteen. He was holding a mop in his right hand and a bucket with water in the other. "I need to clean the deck here." It seemed he did not dare to ask for her to move away, though still he tried to make clear that it was necessary that she would.

"I am sorry, I'm standing in your way. I'll leave." She took her dark blue dress in one hand and walked carefully away as she did not want to slip. She decided that it was a good moment to look for her father. He was probably in his cabin, reading his instructions again. She walked to his office and bedroom and knocked and opened the door. The view made her smile tenderly. As she had predicted, her father, a balding thin man, was reading a few documents and was so occupied that he had not heard her enter.

Her father, governor Arthur Weasley, had been appointed thirteen years ago by King Charles to keep an eye on a island near Bermuda; not the most important job, but it kept her father satisfied and the King too, as he had not called Governor Weasley back yet. he was in his mid forties and his once vivid red hair was thinning and growing grey. Not that the outside world saw that: as governor and a man of high standards he wore a white wig, even when the temperatures in the Caribbean made it unpleasant to wear it.

"Father?" Ginevra asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

Arthur Weasley startled, but smiled as he saw his only daughter in the cabin. "Ginevra, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I'm just making sure that my father does not overwork himself." She walked to his desk and gently took the documents in his hands. She made a neat pile and laid the papers on the corner of the desk. "You do not need to worry, you have prepared yourself plenty. Do not forget that Percy will help you. He will have the documents remembered, every little detail is in his head. Have you eaten yet?"

The governor shook his head. "I won't be able to read more until I have eaten something, will I?"

Ginevra smiled. "No, you will not. I think my brothers will be on the deck. They can join us for some food." She walked to the cabin door and looked sternly at her father as he did not make any movement indicating that he was about the get out of his chair. "Come on, father."

With exaggerated difficulty governor Weasley got out of his chair and followed his daughter to the deck. "You take after your mother more every day, God rest her soul."

"I will take that as a good thing."

The governor and his daughter were now on deck and looked around to see the rest of their family. It proved to be easily done: three men with red hair like Ginevra were standing near the wheel, talking to the bulky man behind the ship's wheel.

The tallest of the three was William, the eldest. His hair was long and tied back in a low ponytail. His face showed some scars, from fights in the New World and Ginevra knew that there were more on his arms and torso. He wore the uniform of Commodore, though he did not have his hat with.

Next to him was Charles, the second son of the governor, and his clothing was loser than his brother's: he wore breaches tucked into his boots and a white loose shirt. His hair too was long and in a ponytail and also he had forgone a hat. Though he did not look like it, also Charles held a rank in the navy: Captain, which was one lower than his brother's.

The last brother was Percy, the studious brother of the three. It showed in his clothes: they were like his father's and without any indication of a rank in the army or navy. He wore glasses and his hair was shorter, though still collar-length. He had a mustache and a pointed beard as the latest fashion was in London.

The three were talking, pointing to the horizon and occasionally asking Henry, the man behind the wheel, something, probably to confirm a theory. It was not a rare sight to see.

Ginevra proceeded her to her brothers, who greeted them with a smile and Charles put his hand shortly on her head, careful to not mess the do up.

"Father, we will need four more days to reach Port James," Percy said. He spoke with a more formal tone than William who contributed: "We are on schedule and Henry says he does not expect any foul weather."

"Excellent," their father said. "I expect we will reside there for a week, ten days at the most and then we will return home." He looked worried about the meeting, which would be with the local governor to keep the trade lively.

"It will go fine, father," Charles said. He turned to his sister: "Where is your companion? I have seen her very little since we left port." He was talking about Mary, Ginevra's personal maid and the only other woman on the Gloria.

"She is experiencing seasickness. It's her first time on sea."

"And she is still below decks?" Charles asked with his eyebrows high. "Does she not know that the worst thing you can do while being seasick is staying below decks? She needs the fresh wind."

"She simply won't listen to me, or she is too ill to leave her bed. I decided I will give her the rest she needs. There is not much to do for her now, so it does not matter." She put a stubborn lock of red hair behind her ear, but it did not matter: the wind blew it away again. "However, we were here to ask if you would like something to eat."

"Yes, please," Charles beamed; it was like he had a bottomless stomach sometimes. Ginevra often wondered how he survived for weeks on a ship where caution with the food was needed. Percy and William nodded and Ginevra left them to go to the kitchen. There she was greeted by Thomas, though he was more commonly called 'Cook'. He was a muscled man with an earring and a bald head. Just your average crew member on a ship, just like his name. Though as Cook had told her: sometimes the most obvious names were the best names. He was now chopping vegetables and when she entered the galley he pointed to the tray with bread on the table.

"Thank you, Cook. Do you mind if I take some lard?"

"No problem, miss. You know where it is." And without much ado he continued with his work.

Ginevra grabbed the jar of lard and with a knife she put some on the pieces of bread. Ever since her mother died, about ten year ago, she took care of her family, with help of the servants. Molly, also a redhead, had been a motherly type; not a person who would let the servants raise her children. No, her mother had always made sure that the children knew who their mother was. She would scold them, make them breakfast and take them for trips in the foreign country they were living in. She had died of an unfamiliar illness and her husband had been fragile ever since.

Ginevra put some extra lard on the piece of bread that was meant for her father and then took the tray to her family, who were discussing the direction they were heading.

"With the compliments of Cook."

"Thank you, honey." Her father took his piece of bread with a knowing smile and the five of them watched the sea, silently eating their food.

It was peaceful and Ginevra had wanted to stay like this for a long time until...

"Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!" The man in the crow's nest called and he pointed in the direction behind the ship. The five immediately turned around and squinted their eyes to see something. William had already taken the telescope from Henry and was looking intently at the sea. When he found what he was looking for, he immediately turned to his brother. "Pirates probably."

"Have they hoisted their flag?" Charles asked. His joking nature was pushed back and Ginevra saw the navy officer in her brother.

"No, but I think I recognize the ship." William handed the telescope to Charles.

"Which ship is it?" Percy, Ginevra and the governor looked intently at the Commodore.

"The Gryffin," Charles answered for his brother. He looked tensed and when his brother confirmed his lips were one thin straight line. "What is your plan?"

"Their ship is fast."

"The Gloria is fast," Governor Weasley interjected.

"Not that fast, father. Their ship is faster. I'm hoping we can avoid them for a while so they lose interest. However, I'm afraid they won't. I plan on fighting with every man and weapon on this ship. The Gryffin will know that it was a mistake to chase the Gloria and I plan on giving those pirates the punishment they deserve as soon as we are in Port James."

"I like it. Allow me to assist." Charles walked to the railing of the bridge and called clear: "All hens on deck! All hens on deck!"

Meanwhile William turned to Henry. "How long before they catch up with us?"

"At this rate, sir?" Henry looked behind them, looked at the sails and the sea and then said: "A few hours. We are using most of our sails, so more speed is not possible."

"Fine, then we will have a few hours to prepare ourselves." He stepped forward to stand next to Charles to wait for all of the crew to gather on the deck.

Behind them Ginevra turned to her other brother and her father. "We don't have a lot of gold to offer them, why are they coming after us?"

"I do not know," the governor looked behind him again to see the approaching ships again.

"Maybe they are bored or they might have received false information about our freight." Percy was clearly thinking this through. "Either way, I do not believe that they will ignore us."

"Crew! I want this ship prepared for battle. Ready the cannons and make sure everyone has a weapon and is ready to fight. We have a few hours. Now go!" William ordered. There was a flood of "yes, sir!"'s and the crew fell apart again, each doing what they were trained to do in case of a battle.

"Make sure that everything is done what has to be done and that they do it properly. I will stay here and make a strategy with Percy." William said to Charles, who shortly saluted and then ascended the stair to the deck. He now turned to Percy, his father and Ginevra. "Percy, I need your help to make a battle plan. Ginevra, you can stay here on deck, but as soon as they are close by, you have to go and hide below deck. I do not want you to be in the heat. Father, I recommend you to do the same."

The governor stood straighter and his eyes had a spark of spirit. "I was part of the navy too, I still have some tricks up my sleeve. I am the governor and I will not let you fight without me."

William did not protest as Ginevra did. He looked at his father carefully. He seemed to try to read something in the blue eyes that he had inherited. "Fine," he said eventually. "Make sure you are prepared."

"No, you can't let that happen!" Ginevra protested.

"Gin, I need every man who can fight and father can fight."

"Don't worry, your old father will be fine." The governor embraced his daughter shortly. "I will not be in the heat of the fight, so you do not need to worry. I will get you when the fight is over, I promise."

Time passed by fast now she was dreading the fight that was as rapidly approaching as the Gryffin was. She hugged her father and her brothers and wished them victory. She stayed a little longer with her father and it was with great reluctance that she left them to sit in her cabin. She walked in the small room and was very close to biting her nails (a thing a lady would never do and if her mother had raiser her one thing, it was like a lady) when the first cannons were fired. She let out a strangled cry and looked out of her small window, but there was nothing to see except a lot of water. She tried to sit down, but she knew she could not sit quietly and wait for the fight to be over. She also knew that she was of no use in the fight, so the most sensible thing was to stay in the cabin and keep praying that the fight would end in victory for the Weasleys.

Time was a curious thing. In Ginevra's opinion the fight was dreadfully long. After the cannons had be fired there had been a lot of shouting and noises of boots landing on the deck, accompanied by the noise of sword against sword. The fight did not seem to stop and it frustrated Ginevra to no end.

She did not hear the footsteps on the stairs and when her cabindoor was slammed open it scared her greatly.

A tall blonde man with tattoos on his arms and a slick grin stepped into her cabin and the grin became greater when he saw the woman near the bed.

"Well, well, I was looking for gold, but this will do too. You don't have to move far, love." His eyes looked at her, at her bed and back at her. His eyes roamed greedily over her curves and as a reaction he licked his lips. A shiver travelled over Ginevra's spine. She looked at the door behind the man and she knew that was her only way out.

She was trapped.

He stepped towards her; like a predator approaching his prey, and she stepped sideways to the little table in her cabin. On it was still a plate, the only thing in the room that could be used as a weapon. It was her only chance.

He saw what she was doing and he leapt towards her. She did not wait for him to grab her and she smashed the plate on his shoulder, just missing his head. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her against his chest. A foul smell infiltrated her nose, but she did not pay anymore attention to it. An instinct, that she never knew she had, took over and she did everything she could to escape his grasp. She bit, clawed, kicked, screamed and turned as much she could.

He was strong, but impatient.

He held her closer, put his arm against her throat and was trying to sniff or kiss her neck. She did not know and she did not plan on letting him do it.

He grew more impatient and eventually, Ginevra did not know how long she had been fighting against him, probably just seconds as she was not tired yet, he smacked his fist against her head and darkness fell.