Check me out! New chapter!
If you haven't done so already, reread the 1st, 2nd, and 4th chapters. Especially the 1st, I've made loads of changes on each of those chapters.
Right. Where were we? Chapter six? Wow…
Lily lay sprawled on the deck, her head down, red curls cascading around her. She stared in shock at the wooden planks before blinking several times and hauling herself up.
She looked round to find the rest of her crew staring at her with their mouths open, while the pirate invaders simply looked on in growing interest. Running a hand through her disheveled hair, Lily nodded to herself a few times, pacing back and forth a few steps.
"Well, you see – " she cut off suddenly with a shake of her head and continued pacing.
"What I mean to say is – " she stopped again and looked hopelessly around her. "Bugger me, I got nothing."
She backed up a few steps and faced her crew with a determined expression. "I am a woman," Lily announced, "I have long hair, curves, all that woman stuff… and you never really noticed." she paused for a few seconds in deep thought, "You know what? I am ashamed of you. Five years upon this ship and nobody cared, whoop-de-doo! I feel it is my obligation, being offended as I am, therefore, to go… that way." She pointed to the nearest exit and made a run for it, thinking maybe if she got on a dingy and started rowing away, they'd just forget about her.
"Oi, not so fast!" James Potter leapt forward, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back to the centre of the ship, "This is you isn't it?" He pulled out the portrait he had found on the second bed, when he had been searching.
Lily, who had been pouting and rubbing her wrist, stopped for a moment and bent down to examine the small likeness of her and her family. She rolled her eyes, "How'd ya guess? Was it the nose?"
James ignored her studiously and looked again at the portrait, "I can't help feeling I've seen this before…" he murmured.
"Hey, uh, Captain?" Sirius called meekly from where he was guarding the long line of The Ministry's crew, "I do believe earlier you said we were on a tight schedule," he hinted, "… not to mention even I'm feeling rather pathetic watching these lot groan on their knees."
But James, who had hardly been listening, was still staring at the portrait as a large grin started to grow on his face, "Boys?" he drawled, "Hoist the colours… Lady Lily Evans is coming with us."
"… Reason number nine why you should not take me with you is that I tend to eat a rather large amount of food and by the time I am done, there will simply not be enough left for the rest of your crew… and I would hate for those muscles to waste away, if ya get me… reason ten is that I shall be leaving behind my writing stationary, and I cannot function without writing a letter to my dear – "
"One more word out of you and we'll just drown you instead," James snapped, turning around sharply to glare at the chattering red head, who was being dragged towards one of the planks that lead to the deck of The Marauder. He shoved her towards it non too gently and she stumbled slightly before regaining her footing and, grumbling under her breath, stomped towards the enemy ship.
"Welcome aboard, milady," Remus Lupin greeted her cheerfully as she jumped down.
Lily turned to glare menacingly at him, hands on hips, and said snidely, "I fail to see much of a welcome so far. A plate of bread and cheese would be most welcome and a tour of my unfortunate and forced new accomodation would also not go amiss…" Lupin raised an eyebrow and Lily childishly mocked him, "Well, chop, chop… what are you waiting for?"
"Generally speaking, waiting for the captain is the protocol," a dry voice said behind them and they turned to look as James swung himself impressively over the railing, landing with a cocky smirk directed at Lily.
Of course, this gave Lily a most wonderful chance to survey her captor. Her eyes drank him in appreciatively, taking in his dark hazel eyes and sharp cheek bones along with his raven black mop of hair. His shoulders were quite broad and he was tall, almost as tall as wiry, bean pole Arthur. And his abdomen… Lily could very happily stare at his lean muscles peaking from behind his loose tunic all day. Good lord, she thought dumbfounded, where have all these handsome men come from? If they'd have lived in my town, I never would have left!
Shaking herself from these thoughts, she quickly retorted, "And since when have you ever followed protocol in the short time I've know you?"
James grinned wickedly, "Perhaps you'll just have to get to know me… when you're scrubbing the deck for me tomorrow."
Lily glowered at him, "If you want any decent ransom off my brother, you'd want to return me in pristine condition."
James shrugged, "I've never really gone for decent me… and if that ransom is as much as it said on that "Missing" poster, well, a bit off that won't make no difference to me… s'long as it's still in the thousands."
Lily couldn't believe her ears. A bunch of pirates… taking her home… for Charles' "ransom" money. Well, crap, she thought, annoyed. There is no ransom, it was only for show! … and it would cause an awful lot of bother to run away again and join another crew… Unless…
"Well, oh mighty captain," she started grinning sweetly, "Surely sailing all the way to my home town would take you miles out of your way of pillaging and whatever you pirates like to do in your spare time, so why not just let me go on my own way? Just give me a little rowing boat and a few bananas and I'll hop to it! Send my your address and you'll have the money by the return of post in no time!"
Remus snorted quietly behind them as James raised an eyebrow, "I'm not gullible or stupid, and you'd have to be joking if you think I'd believe a word of what you say. Now, by the looks of things, you seem to have run away without breathing a word, leaving your brother to believe you were kidnapped. While you were on a lovely little adventure with your lovely little friends, he offered a great deal of money to anybody who could bring his darling sister back… and I would very much like that great deal of money, milady, whether you care to go back or not. It's a win win situation as far as I'm concerned." He seemed pleased and almost waited cheerfully for the response he knew was coming.
"Except for me," Lily grumbled, "And I was having such a good time as well…" she said wistfully.
"Nothing gold can stay," James said sagely, nodding, "Now, Mr Lupin will show you to your very special guest cabin and I will be round in the morning, ready to introduce you to your new friends; bucket and mop." He smirked and said conspiratorially to her, "If I were you, I'd savour the little rest you have tonight, because if we are going out of our way for you, we most certainly want to make it worthwhile." He glanced at the rapidly setting sun.
He strolled off to the Captain's quarters with a very obvious swagger as Lily stared after him in slight awe and disgust.
"I don't think I've ever met someone more arrogant and self-centered in my life," she murmered thoughtfully. "It really is quite a skill."
"He wasn't that bad," Remus defended weakly. At Lily's dumbfounded stare, he crumbled a bit and admitted, "Okay, he was pretty bad… but he's a nice guy once you get to know him!"
Lily raised an eyebrow, "I don't want to get to know him, thank you very much." And, on a side, she added under her breath, "Conceited toerag."
Remus snorted again, "Come on, this way."
Lily stared incredulously at her new room, "Extra special guest room?" she asked herself in disbelief, "Think again, Captain Toerag."
It was a cupboard.
A stinking cupboard under the stairs.
UNDER THE STAIRS.
Lily stretched her arms out to rest on either side of the wall and shook her head glumly. "Bloody hell…"
She plunked herself down on the meagre pile of straw that served as her mattress… and also smelt slightly of cheese she thought now that her nose was nearer to it.
Slowly, a wicked grin took the place of the frown that had resided there, After all, she thought, it's not like I'm staying here forever… or even a few hours, if all went to plan.
She rested her head against the wall, closed her eyes... and waited.
Meanwhile, James was pacing his cabin, his brow furrowed and thinking deeply.
He growled under his breath as all train of thought ground to a halt at the memory of a certain redhead. He'd never known anyone get under his skin so fast as she did. It had only been a few hours and yet she already danced around in his mind with her cheeky grins and her sly comments.
Perhaps it was the way her emerald eyes flashed beguilingly as he unwittingly let a sarcastic remark slip or how she so easily wound him up with a quick quirk of her eyebrow and a few words.
She was definitely something else and maybe he would've kept her around if it weren't for the guaranteed ten thousand pieces of gold upon her return. He drooled slightly at the thought of so much money at one time and he knew this was an opportunity his crew couldn't miss.
He paused a moment and glanced at the door… he almost wanted to visit the girl, see her reaction to her new room… Surely a lady of any standing would squirm at the sight? And he was certain one or two rats liked to frequent there… yes, that would entertain him for sure.
James found himself himself grinning eagerly at the prospect of another confrontation and started to make his way to his brand new guest.
Lily peeked her head round the corner of one of the masts. The deck was almost entirely empty in the middle of the night, bar the old man dozing at the helm. Her eyes scanned the railing until they landed on what she was looking for.
"Bingo," she whispered gleefully and crept over to the side of the ship, where the dingy was being propped against.
Trying to be as quiet as possible, she started to shift it so that it was delicately balancing on the railing, waiting to be lowered in with a long coil of rope. Grabbing hold of that next, she had almost started to heave until a loud shout made her jump and the small boat clattered to the deck with a loud bang.
"Hey! You there!" It was the captain running towards her, his eyes narrowed angrily as he took in the sight of her trying to escape.
Lily squeaked loudly and flailed about for a moment before tossing the rope aside and climbing onto the railing. She looked dubiously at the tossing waters below and then again at the stormy captain who was almost beside her.
"Sod it," she muttered and dove in, meeting the freezing sea head first.
James watched in disbelief as his captive, his captive threw herself off the ship. He reached the railing and leaned against it, searching the waters desperately for a flash of red. The loud noise of the rowboat had awakened much of his crew, who were gathered around him, watching the scene.
"Well?" he asked angrily, spinning round to face them, "Go get her! That's ten thousand pieces of gold that just dove into the sea!"
"Can't we just let her drown?" Sirius complained loudly.
"No," James barked, "Get to it."
"But she was so annoying…"
Remus rolled his eyes and fetched a long piece of rope and quickly tossed it to James, who pouted, "Do I have to save her?"
"You brought her on board," Remus shrugged. James sighed and glanced out to sea, searching for the lost girl. He had to do a double take and he gaped at the small red dot bobbing along with the tide.
"She's swimming away," he said incredulously, "My God, how is she still alive?"
"It's cold, it's really cold, it's really cold," Lily panted as she came up for air. So far, she was quite proud of the progress she had made. The ship, at least, seemed to be getting further away.
Taking a few more deep breaths, Lily prepared herself to start swimming against the waves again. Her arm reached forward to drag herself forward when –
"AHHHHH!" She screamed as a hand enclosed her ankle and pulled her backwards. She kicked out feverishly, her mind chanting sea monster, sea monster, until a sharp yelp drew her attention behind her.
"Do you mind?" A very disgruntled captain-of-the-ship-she-was-trying-to-escape was rubbing his nose as he eyed her foot with caution.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Lily yelled at him.
"I'm sorry," he said loudly and sarcastically over the crashing of the waves, "Please, forgive me for trying to save your life!"
"Save my –" Lily spluttered, "I don't need saving! I am perfectly fine where I am thank you very much!"
James scrutinized her face, taking in the mangled mat of hair and her lips, which were at that moment turning a very interesting shade of blue.
"Yeah, okay," he said unconvincingly, "And where do you plan to go after this?"
"That's none of your business," Lily snottily held her nose up in the air, talking through chattering teeth.
James rolled his eyes, "This is ridiculous," he muttered, and he pulled Lily towards him in one smooth movement, trapping her under his arm as the other steadily started smooth swimming strokes in the direction of the boat.
"Hey!" Lily cried indignantly and she started struggling vehemently against him, managing to kick James in the stomach. He grunted in pain and after a moments consideration, he adjusted her position so that the next wave flew right in her face. She started spluttering and coughing and James grinned as the kicking stopped straight away.
As they reached the ship, the rope around James' waist assisted them in climbing up the side and togther they stumbled onto the deck and promptly collapsed in a heap.
"You sodding toerag," Lily gasped between breaths.
"I saved your bloody life, you ungrateful little princess," James panted back, "Some gratitude would not go amiss."
Lily struggled to her knees, "Who the hell do you think you are anyway? Ordering people around, acting like you're the king!"
James glared at her climbed to his feet, "I am captain of this ship, something I think you'd better get into your thick skull."
"Oh?" Lily snarled, "Well, newsflash, Captain What's-your-face, I'm not one of your crew!"
"I am Captain James Potter and while you are on my ship, you follow my rules, part of the crew or no!" he roared, "There's a reason I'm a pirate, you spoiled wench, and unless you want to keep all your limbs intact, I suggest that you keep that big mouth of yours to yourself, am I understood?!"
He stormed past her, a manic glint in his eye and turned to Remus, "And next time she decides to throw herself off the ship, you can save her at your leisure, because I will be hoping she drowns!"
Lily glared menacingly at his back, "We'll see."
I am actually so proud I updated, whadya think? Review!
Oh, and me and my friend are starting a music cover channel on Youtube called FABofficial1 and we've also got a twitter page FABofficial, if you check us out or follow us it'd mean a great deal, and you can tell me if you're reading this story. Basically, we're posting videos of music tutorials, pop covers, the like!
This chapter was wrought with references... Can you spot any?
We need ideas for songs to cover! Suggestions are VERY welcome!
Thanks so much for sticking with this story, I know I've been a right pain!