Pirate Universe Part 2

Jackie's Note: AHHH! I COMPLETELY forgot about this ficcy! I'm sooo sorry! It was finished for the cough April cough ficathon on LJ, but it just left my mind that I'd posted the first part here!

Anyway, if anyone's still reading this, here's the really really really REALLY late second part. :)

Pirate Universe Part 2

Little hands gripped onto the door knob bringing the young girl to an abrupt halt. Her chocolate eyes became as wide as saucers as she took in first the state of the room, and then the state of her parents. "I heard banging… What happened?"

She seemed almost terrified to hear the answer to her question, and Remus and Tonks seemed to share her displeasure to give it.

But Remus had an idea, and he summoned his daughter, "Come here, Lilly." She crossed the room, and he knelt beside her, "You know how special you and Mum are to me."

Lilly nodded begging her father to explain the curious situation. Dad's office was never messy, and why were her parents' clothes messed up? She noted the rip in her mother's pants and the mussed nature of her father's hair…

Tonks watched and waited in rapt fascination wondering to see how he would get through this one.

"I would do anything to protect you," he was saying, "Even… Fight."

Lilly's eyes grew, if possible, wider, "You were fighting?"

Remus nodded gravely. Tonks brought a hand to her mouth to her mouth to stifle her chuckles which he easily silenced with a simple glance.

"But… Who were you fighting, Dad?"

"An evil man, Lilly… A pirate. His heart is black and cold because he used to seek only money, but now he sails about in his ship kidnapping little girls and their mums because he wants to steal all the love in the world for himself. He has only one hand; a crocodile at his other one."

Her little mouth dropped open, "Captain Hook?"

Remus again nodded, "He came for you and mum today."

Forgetting her father for a moment, she spun around to face her mother who had an unreadable expression across her face. "Really?" she asked.

Tonks glanced to her husband for help, but he only inclined his head towards their daughter. Looking back to the girl, she said, "Yes. How do you think this happened?" She indicated the torn pant leg. "He tried to drag me off to his ship, but Dad saved me."

Thoroughly excited, she turned back to him, "Tell me what happened?"

He looked thoughtful, "Aren't you supposed to be napping?"

"Please?" she begged, "I'll go to sleep if you tell me! I promise!"

Maintaining the pensive mask a little longer, up he stood. He glanced down at her, "Oh, all right." She grinned as he picked her up and set her atop his desk and retreated to the center of the room to animatedly tell his story.

"It started," he began in a low voice, "With the sudden arrival of a storm, but as I found out, it wasn't really a storm."

"It was just a cover for his ship!" the girl supplied.

He extended his index finger and with a flick of his wrist in her direction, he said, "Right you are. And the ship was massive."

"You saw it?" she asked in awe.

"Right there," he pointed past her to the balcony to which the doors were still open. "With big white sails and a black pirate flag. When they stopped, the doors flew open and blew my papers everywhere."

"Did you see the other pirates?"

"There were quite a few of them," he replied casually. "Some had earrings and tattoos. Some had patches for eyes. They had scars on their chests and arms and even their faces," he drew a line with his finger from his eye to his cheek. "They were pulling the ropes for the sails, and they dropped the anchor at the balcony. And one of them," he dropped his voice, "Shot at me."

At this point, Lilly became skeptical and crossed her little arms over her chest, "How come I didn't hear?"

He was baffled, "You were asleep."

"What about Mum?"

"I haven't reached that part, yet."

"Where's the bullet?"

Out of the spotlight, Tonks allowed her amusement to shine through. Like mother, like daughter, she supposed. As an Auror, it was her job to be skeptical, and she was pleased, though highly amused, to see that the trait had been passed onto the five-year-old.

"Well," Remus' hoarse voice pulled her from her thoughts, "I'm not quite sure where the bullet is, but you can see what it did." He walked across the room and stopped at the hole he had created earlier with the removal of the nail and pointed at the damage.

Eyes bulging at the undeniable evidence and proof, she met her father's gaze, "What happened next?"

Pacing slowly back to his stage in the middle of the room, he said quietly, "I saw him."

"What did he look like?" she asked completely enthralled.

"Just like the book says only I could see the evil in his hollow eyes," his voice held an eerily quality. "He wasn't happy with the pirate who shot at me. He said it was bad form since I didn't have a gun of my own."

Lilly's eyes were slightly fearful, "What did he do?"

"I don't know. He said," he changed his voice to be deeper and rougher, "'Take him below!' and they did. And then he hopped down from the ship and said, 'Remus, my name is Captain James Hook, and I'm here for your beautiful wife and your very cute daughter.

This elicited a giggle from the little girl as he brought to life the most evil and wicked villain of her imagination.

"I was quite shocked, to tell the truth. I know no one else in the world has such big hearts as you two," he stated matter-of-factly with an airy wave of his hand, "But I never thought anyone would try to steal you away from me. But I suppose I should have expected it; how could he possibly resist?"

A maternal expression settled on Tonks' face as she watched her husband interact with their daughter. She recalled the doubts and worries he had been plagued with concerning his ability to be a good father. She had insisted that he would be wonderful, and he was, yet again, demonstrating just how wonderful he was. If the look on Lilly's face didn't say it, she didn't know what did.

"So I told him, 'Captain Hook, I'm afraid I can't help you. My wife and daughter are not here, but even if they were, I wouldn't let you take them.' And do you know what happened next?"

She shook her head.

He pursed his lips together and with a nod in her direction said flatly, "Your mother walked in the room."

Lilly turned accusatorily, "Mum!"

Tonks spit her tongue out at him before taking the cue and addressing her, "I didn't know! I heard a gunshot, and then Dad was talking with someone! What was I supposed to do?"

She pouted, but it didn't stop her from asking, "What did you do then?" of her father.

"Well, I didn't do anything at first because Captain Hook grabbed a hold of Mum." He changed his voice to the villain of the story, "'You're coming with me,'" he paused for emphasis, "'Nymphadora.'"

Lilly gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. Even she knew about her mother's dreaded first name.

Remus nodded knowingly, "As you can imagine, Mum wasn't very happy."

She chanced a glance at Tonks, who was attempting to control her mirth but was failing miserably, and then looked back to her dad.

"She punched him in the stomach and tried to run away, but he caught her pants with his hook!" He acted out the next part of his story, "I grabbed Mum's hand and pulled her to me, but," he looked bashful, "I ripped her pants in the process."

Again, the girl giggled.

"Well, he was angry and drew his sword," he said crossing the room to where the replica of Godric Gryffindor's sword lay on the floor next to the desk. He bent down and picked it up, "I used the summoning charm to grab my own. And then we fought. Across the entire room, we fought."

"That was the banging?"

"That was the banging," he affirmed. "We knocked down shelves," he pointed to the bookshelf Tonks had up-ended, "Battled across the room," he made a wide sweeping gesture, "And even climbed on my desk. We knocked everything down!"

"And you won?"

"Of course I won! Why wouldn't I win? I couldn't let him take you and Mum, could I? I had no choice!" He placed the replica down to lean upon the wall and walked over, taking Lilly off the table and putting her back on the ground kneeling in front of her once again. "And when I did, he ran away. He said that wouldn't return for fear of losing more than just a sword fight."

"Wow…" she said. "And he left?"

Remus nodded, "And he left. You came in right after his ship disappeared."

She seemed upset at the prospect of missing Captain Hook's ship, but then she frowned, "Did this really happen?"

"As assuredly as I had tea with the Big Bad Wolf after giving him sugar, baked bread with the Muffin Man, and danced with Cinderella."

She grinned, "I like this story better than those other ones."

"For now… Until I have another adventure?"

"Maybe…" she yawned.

He kissed her forehead, "Now it's time for your nap, and I think I've given you a very good story to put you to sleep."

She pouted but relented, "Okay…"

Tonks was approaching the pair as he said, "Go on with Mum."

He stood, and as Lilly made her way to the door, Tonks touched his shoulder lightly. "In the fairy tales," she murmured, "The hero always gets the girl he rescues."

"Hmm…" he pecked her lips, "Then I shall be happy to give you your happily ever after."

"You could have just told her that Mum was clumsy again."

"I could have, but where's the fun in that?"