Bad Faith Island
A Harry Potter Pirate Story
by VG Jekyll
38. Remus the Murderer
Morning arrives with a happy and warm sun, almost as if trying to deny the happenings of the previous night. Draco is awakened by the first rays of the sun, that shine mercilessly in his eyes. He feels broken and tired, which is not a surprise since he probably only got a few brief hours of sleep.
He glances bleary-eyed at the others around the extinguished fire. They are still asleep, though barely, since the sun is already quite bright. The spot next to him is empty though. Where is Harry?
The blond rubs the sleep out of his eyes and gets up on his feet. Harry is not hard to find though, as he is surrounded by other pirates, all wide awake. When Draco approaches them, he hears how Harry orders a few of them to stay at base-camp, while others will go with him and Dennis to find the cave.
Harry meets Draco's questioning gaze and gives a silent nod. Draco is to join his group.
"What about the wolf?" asks a crew member. He seems uncertain about how smart it is to go into the forest right now. The others seem to share the same doubt.
It is clear to Draco, who is gouging the expression on the pirates faces, that they still do not fully accept the leadership of Harry. This is something that Draco finds odd, since the earlier attack on Voldemort, with Harry in charge, had been rather successful.
"Remus won't be a problem. The moon has no control over him anymore."
It is, however, not Harry's voice that speaks but that of Sirius Black. The pirates all turn towards him. He is pale and slightly unsteady on his feet, but his eyes speak of determination and strength. The pirates crowd around him and Draco goes to Harry's side.
"I will join your group, Harry." Sirius says over the noise of the pirates asking after his health.
"What use will you be with only one arm," is Harry's harsh reply. He crosses his arms as Sirius walks over to him and Draco actually expects him to hit Harry in the face for saying so. Sirius merely grins.
"You ain't keeping me away from the action, Harry."
"You can hardly stand on your feet!"
"Do you think you're able to stop me from going?"
Harry sighs deeply. "No, but I could try. Okay, you can come. Just, be careful. Okay?"
Sirius makes a halfhearted salute with his remaining arm and then turns to the pirates.
"You hear that boys! I'm coming with you!"
Joyful yelling is the result and Draco rolls his eyes. It is almost as if the crew thinks that Sirius is able to keep the danger away from them. Little does he know, that isn't far from the truth...
The journey through the forest is easier than before, though it is clammy and the sun soon is so hot that not even the tree's can give them enough shade. The pirates are all sweating and morale is low. It becomes even lower when they notice something rather unusual amongst the trees.
"We didn't see that yesterday," Dennis comments, he has bags under his watery eyes. He sniffles every once in a while and the pirates all pretend not to notice when he wipes his eyes with a sleeve. It might take a while before he'll be able to smile again.
They all stare at the long sticky threads that hang from the trees and are draped to the ground. Harry carefully steps forward and touches one of the white threads with his cutlass. It is immediately glued onto the thread and it takes quite some strength to rip it loose.
"Whatever it is, don't touch it!" is Harry's advise.
They carefully follow Dennis his directions and are, according to the boy, close by when they hear rustling sound coming from the bushes. They quickly jump into defensive stances and are startled when, instead of a monster, it is a lean man coming from amongst the tree's.
The man is naked. His body is covered with blood, angry wounds and dirt and it takes Draco a moment to recognize the man as Remus Lupin.
Harry immediately throws his long coat towards the man to help him regain his dignity.
"Remus!" Harry tries to get closer to the man, but the amber-eyed man backs away. Sirius, who had immediately been surrounded by his men when the apparent threat appeared, pushes his way through the crowd. Dennis follows him closely.
"Remus... are you alright?" Sirius asks him carefully.
The man stands silent as a statue, his eyes cast onto the ground and his bangs in front of his eyes. Then then he gives a sudden shake of his head. "I should be the one asking that," his hoarse voice whispers.
Dennis makes a low growl in the back of his throat and Remus finally notices him. He makes a hesitant movement and then reaches out with his closed fist. When he opens it, they can see a large white sharks tooth with a leather string on it.
Seeing Colin's memento in the hand of his murderer makes Dennis lose control. He snatches a cutlass away from a pirate standing near by and charges with a loud battle cry at Remus. His target doesn't do more than half-heartedly holding up an arm in defense.
Before the blade is able to touch him, it is slapped away by another that is held by Sirius. The one-armed pirate captain stands protectively in front of Remus. His face is stern and motionless.
"Dennis," he chastises. "What do you think you're doing?"
Dennis' mouth falls wide open. "You-you're protecting HIM?" He makes the last word sound like venom and Sirius can feel Remus flinch. "He is a MURDERER!"
"Remus is not-!"
"He is right," Remus says and Sirius turns startled around. His eyes meet the sorrowful eyes of his lover. "I am a murderer." The man claims.
Sirius takes a step towards Remus, but the man backs away from him. "Stay away from me!" the amber-eyed man yells. His face is twisted in agony and sorrow. He glances at Sirius's mauled arm and then tears are running down his cheeks.
He turns around and runs away.
It takes Sirius less than a second to make a decision.
"I'm going after him," he tells his godson, and he charges after the love of his life.
To Be Continued