Confession: this chapter was written over a week and a half ago but I didn't have any time to beta it. After a week had passed and I realized that I didn't do shit, I decided to take a proactive approach and enlist the help of a beta because I barely have time to write, much less beta my things. So you all can thank the lovely Dee for making this chapter presentable! :)
Big hugs to all the reveiwers, followers and favouriters (2 of those are not real words but we'll pretend that they are)
Blood of the Convent
A flash of lightning illuminated the village, followed quickly by a teeth-rattling clap of thunder. The rain fell in white sheets, making it impossible to see further than a few feet in front of you. The cobblestone streets were empty, as none in their right mind would venture out in this weather. Lightning flashed again and a little girl, looking no older than eight years old, pressed herself further against the slippery stone wall. She was undoubtedly soaked to the bone. Her red hair was darkened by the water and stuck to her face, and her teeth were chattering. Her dress was torn and muddied, and there was a jacket draped over her shoulders that looked like it belonged to a man nearly three times her size. Her arms were wrapped around her thin middle as she looked for somewhere that was warm and dry, where she could stay until the rain eased up.
She crouched down in the alley with her back to the wall. She had spent the last few days hiding out in the back of a carriage that was transporting potatoes, jumping out only yesterday to carry on the rest of the way on foot. The girl did not know where she was going or what she would do when she ended up there, but she did know that she had to get away from those dratted Dursleys. Since she lost her parents to the fever, she and her older sister had been on their own until, one day, an esteemed-looking woman found them and took them to her home in Privet Drive.
Mrs. Dursley. She'd doted on Petunia but barely tolerated Lily. Lily did not mind receiving less attention. She absolutely hated the woman and her whale of a son. Sometimes she would sneak out and play with the garden boy, who would teach her how to wield a sword, both of them duelling with branches, until Mrs. Dursley found them and yelled at her. This is not how a lady behaves, she would say, before snatching the branches from them and sending her off without supper.
Suddenly a door opened, light spilling out into the alley and making the young girl squeak in fright.
"Hello?" someone - a girl, she would realise later - said. "Is someone there?"
Lily held her breath, trying her best to keep quiet, and simultaneously pushing herself further back until she was sure that she would be out of sight. Whoever heard her stood in the doorway for a few more minutes before giving up, thinking that maybe they had just imagined the entire thing, and starting to close the door. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Lily sneezed and the person by the door jerked it open once more and saw her this time.
The girl was probably in her late teens and had red hair, just like her. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of her small, shivering form.
"Are you alright?" she asked, offering her a small smile and quickly darting through the rain to grab her by her arm. "Come on, dear, let's get you inside. I'm Molly, by the way."
"Li- Lily," the other girl said, rubbing her nose.
Molly smiled at her and gently ushered her into the house. Lily visibly relaxed once the first wave of heat enveloped her body, only to sneeze again. Molly tutted. "Best we get you out of those soaked clothes. Don't want you to catch a fever."
Lily paled at words, and an image of her parents, lying on their deathbeds as she and Petunia, unable to do anything, stood by them, flashed through her head. She immediately started tugging at her drenched clothes to get them off. Molly chuckled and took her up a flight of rickety stairs, leading her to a small bedroom off the side, and helped her change. She opened a small cupboard and took out a dress of hers that had gotten much too small and handed it to Lily with a smile.
Lily took it and murmured a quick, "Thank you."
"Gideon! Fabian!" called Molly as she took Lily by the hand and walked with her to the adjoining room - the kitchen - before seating her at a worn wooden table. Two boys with identical orange-coloured hair ran into the room. They looked to be just a few years older than Lily.
"Who's that?" asked the boy on the right.
"You're being rude, Fabian," reprimanded Molly. She waited until he looked properly abashed before continuing. "This is Lily."
"You're pretty," said the other boy. Molly rolled her eyes.
"Didn't I just say that you're being rude?" she said.
"But you told that to Fabian!" he protested.
"It was meant for you as well," she retorted. "Now Lily is going to be staying with us for a while or until - oh, where are your parents?"
Lily's eyes dropped to the ground. "They died," she muttered, her eyes trained on the wooden floor.
None of them said anything; the only sound that could have been heard throughout the small house was that of the storm raging on outside.
Finally, Lily looked up and caught Molly looking at her sympathetically. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.
She shook her head. "My family lived in Cokeworth. It's a small fishing town in the-"
"South," Molly finished, looking at her in surprise. "Cokeworth is at least a week's travel by carriage. How did you get here?"
Lily launched into the story of how Mrs. Dursley found her and Petunia and took them in, explaining that how their relationship had been hostile at best, until Lily left in the middle of the night with a small sack of gold, her mother's necklace and wedding ring, and a picture of them as a family, dressed in her father's old coat that he used when he went out at sea. No one interrupted her and Lily continued speaking, only pausing when Molly got up and brought her a bowl of soup.
"Well that's quite an adventure," she said at last, once Lily finished talking.
"You learned how to sword fight?" said one of the twins excitedly. "That's so wicked!"
Lily blushed slightly. "It was only with a stick," she replied lamely.
"Well, I for one think that she should stay here, don't you, boys?" announced Molly. The boys, Gideon and Fabian, nodded enthusiastically.
"But, what about your parents?" asked Lily, already feeling as though she was intruding.
Molly waved off her worries and said, "They trade for a living; they're hardly here. I run the little pub downstairs."
Lily's eyes widened. "Wow."
"So will you stay?" she asked, looking at the younger girl expectantly.
Lily bit her lip, hesitating a bit before nodding. Molly smiled and, to Lily's immense surprise, hugged her.
Lily stayed with the Prewetts until she was sixteen. For the first few months, she would disappear for hours without telling anyone where she was going, causing Molly to panic. She was, of course, properly berated when she chose to return home and she would stand shamefacedly and receive her telling-off. She would stop for a few weeks or so before going right back to doing it again. After a while, Molly had all but given up on trying to break her out of that habit and just let her come and go as she pleased. Sometimes she would disappear for a week or two (or even three) before resurfacing once more, unscathed and with stories to tell the boys.
She, Fabian and Gideon became inseparable. It was clear that Lily, despite being the youngest and the smallest, had reigns on both of them, as they did whatever she asked. She taught them how to climb trees, tie knots, how to fish and, their favourite, how to sword fight using branches that they found.
In her last year living with them, Molly and her newfound partner, a strange but kind-hearted man by the name of Arthur Weasley, moved from the town of Diagon to Ottery St. Catchpole, a smaller town located close to the coast. It reminded Lily of her days when she used to go out to sea with her dad to catch fish. The first thing that the three of them did once they arrived was go swimming. Neither Gideon nor Fabian knew how to swim, but Lily did, though she might have been a bit rusty. Within a few months she taught them and they were almost as good as she.
There was an announcement one day of a new merchant ship looking for helpers. Lily persuaded them to join her, to go and explore the ocean. They agreed and they all got on to the ship. Of course, the captain had a problem of a girl being on board and insisted she show him how good of a fighter she was. After roughhousing with the boys for over eight years of her life along with practicing with sticks, she clearly impressed the Captain and that was how the three of them (passing as brother and sister for the time being) started their life at sea.
The ship rocked gently that night, but Lily slept fitfully. She dreamed of the King catching up with her, of having to watch all her men – her friends – die right in front of her before she was executed, images of her crew flying high with ropes around their necks invading her mind. If it was not that, then it was swords and blood. Her blankets were tangled around her waist as she tossed and turned.
"Sev," she gasped out before bolting upright in bed. Her heart was hammering and her hair was stuck to the nape of her neck. Lily fumbled around for a moment, trying to find her flask of water. Once she'd found it, she took several large sips, draining it completely. She swung her feet out of bed and stumbled over to her desk where she then lit the two candles.
Lily ran a hand through her tangled hair, combing out the knots before tying it up with the leather cord. She caught sight of herself in the small exposed part of the grimy mirror and cursed loudly. She looked back at her bed - the sheets were half off the mattress, while one of the pillows was nowhere to be found - and sighed. It was obvious that she was not going to - or more accurately, could not - go back to sleep. Instead, she shoved her feet into her boots, shrugged on her coat and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
The deck was empty, save for the person at the wheel: Bones, she thinks.
"Go get some sleep, Edgar," she ordered as she walked up to him. The poor man was half asleep already. He did not put up any resistance; instead he nodded and stumbled away, bleary-eyed. Lily grasped the wheel in her hands, feeling the power of the ocean buzzing through the wood as she stared out at sea and watched how the sky slowly lightened.
It was fairly dark when Remus Lupin came on deck. He did not notice the Captain standing at the wheel, a mere ten paces away from where he stood leaning against the banister, until she called him out.
"Alright there, Lupin?" she asked, making him jump slightly.
He gave her a tired smile. "Yeah. Can't sleep."
Lily nodded. "Same here."
They stood there for a while, neither of them talking, just listening to the waves lap against the sides of The Phoenix until the sky turned pink.
Remus glanced over his shoulder at her small form. He could admit that she was very pretty, even though she could kill him in a second if she needed to. Her eyes were trained hard in front of her to the sea, but he would bet that she was not really seeing the wide expanse of ocean at all. The green swirled like the sea as her mind whirled on.
Clearing his throat, he asked, "So what exactly are you going to be teaching us?"
Lily looked back at him before turning to the front once more. "Not much; I don't exactly expect you all to do anything."
He felt a flicker of irritation, but quelled it. "Look, I know that James was – is - being a prat, but Sirius and I would be happy to help out."
She turned again to look at him challengingly. He met her gaze with a defiant one of his own. "You're right; Potter is a prat," she said, going back to the ocean. In spite of her succinct speech, Remus felt as though she was actually listening to what he said.
"I'll teach you all how to tie the riggings, fight and handle the ship," she said at last.
"That doesn't sound too difficult," he said thoughtfully.
Lily snorted. "Sure; that's what you think. Why don't you come over here and try to steer her?"
Remus looked at her questioningly, but all she did was scoff at him and continue holding onto the wheel. He walked over and placed his hands exactly where she had hers, surprised to feel the amount of power surging through it. He gripped on tight as the ocean tried to take the little control he had over the vessel away from him. Lily laughed as she watched him, letting him struggle for a few more moments before taking back control.
"Alright," said Remus, a bit out of breath. "I get your point."
"Good," she replied. He did not have to be looking at her to know that she was smirking. Lily looked up at him and said, "Go and find Fenwick, Lupin. Tell him I told you to get some breakfast."
"Er, who?"
"Benjy Fenwick, the cook; he should be in the kitchens. Walk around; you'll find it eventually," she dismissed him.
Remus left and headed back downstairs, clinging on to the walls. He had never been particularly fond of being on a ship. The constant rocking back and forth made him feel sick and he could never walk properly. Before heading off on his quest to find the kitchens, he stopped back in the room he shared with the other two.
"Wake up, you twats," he announced loudly.
Sirius groaned before rolling over and cursing loudly when he almost fell out of the hammock.
"Bloody hell," he groaned into his pillow. "I thought that I had dreamt all this and when I woke up, I would have a nasty headache and beautiful woman in bed with me."
"Can you idiots keep it down?" muttered James sleepily as he shoved his head under the pillow. "I'm trying to sleep."
"When Lily comes and find you two sleeping, she'll probably throw you both on the floor," said Remus.
"Since when is she 'Lily'?" grumbled James, opening his eyes slightly to look at Remus suspiciously.
"Well it's her name, isn't it?" countered Remus, effectively evading James' question.
After some more coercion on his part (and many more expletives on their part) Remus finally got James and Sirius out of their hammocks and fully coherent. He waited patiently as they readied themselves for the day, dressing in the same clothes they wore yesterday.
"Right," he said, once Sirius finished tying his shoelaces. "Does anyone know where the kitchens are?"
"I found them yesterday," said James through a yawn. When he realised that both Remus and Sirius were staring at him, he said, "What?"
"Told you he'd get lost," Sirius said, turning to Remus.
"I didn't get lost," protested James.
"Quiet, you," hushed Sirius.
"What he means," interjected Remus, giving Sirius a reprimanding glare. "Is that we want to know if you can do it again?"
James scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Maybe."
He could not.
It was nearly half an hour later when they stumbled into the kitchen where half the crew were, talking amongst themselves.
"This is why we don't listen to this git," said Sirius, slapping James' head. James knocked his shoulder as retaliation and before Remus realised it, they were both fighting, while the other pirates looked on with various expressions of amusement.
After a few moments, Remus separated them. "Must you act like children?" he asked.
"Sirius is being a wanker," objected James.
"I have to agree with Lupin," a new voice cut in.
Gideon walked in between the three boys and took Sirius and James by their shoulders. He pushed them towards the table and seated them there, before the gangly dark-haired boy from the corner - James recognised him as Benjy, the cook - placed a plate of ... something in front of them. Remus, sensing everyone looking at him as well, slowly joined.
"Where's Lily?" asked Gideon. Many of the men shrugged and muttered something under their breath.
"Last I saw her, she was at the wheel," said Remus, not understanding why the men stayed quiet.
Gideon's brow crinkled. "Wheel? Isn't it Bones' shift?"
The men shifted around uncomfortably for another few moments before one of them actually replied. "Aye," called a man from the back. "She came out 'round three or so this morning and told me to get some rest before taking over."
The red-haired man calculated how long she was up there for and swore, apparently not liking the results he got. "Bloody hell; stupid bird's been up there for almost five hours." He turned on his heel to leave the room when he paused and said, "You three," he gestured to Sirius and they, "Come up on deck when you're done with breakfast."
"Is that what this is?" murmured Sirius, earning two elbows in the stomach from James and Remus.
Gideon rolled his eyes. "Just get on deck when you finish so you can start learning how things are run around here," he said before leaving, slamming the door behind him.
The kitchen fell silent, the tension between the three and the pirates was almost tangible. Fortunately, each group kept to themselves and did not interact. The three of them hurriedly ate what seemed to be some sort of mashed potato with bits of meat in it, and drank a glass of water tinged with the slight taste of rum.
Once they were done, they stacked their dishes and slowly made their way on deck, where Lily was waiting for them, spending her time glaring at the back of Gideon's head. The other man was at the wheel of the ship, having apparently taken it away from the Captain.
"Exactly how long have you been there?" demanded Gideon as he walked to the front of the ship where Lily was, still at the wheel.
"Dunno," she replied carelessly. "Since it was dark. Came out here because I couldn't sleep and ended up taking the wheel from Eddie. Poor lad was asleep on his feet."
"Right; and do you know what time it is now?" he asked, barely keeping the slight anger out of his tone.
"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," said Lily. He could practically hear her eyes rolling.
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Lils," he began softly. "You've been out here since around three; it's probably about past eight by now. That's five hours."
Lily sighed. "I know; I just ... I just needed to do something."
"So you decided to stand at the wheel for over five hours?" said Gideon doubtfully. "What happened?"
"Nothing happened," replied Lily. Gideon stared at her, frowning slightly and eyes narrowed. "Fine; I had a bad dream, okay?"
"What was it ab - " he began asking before she held up a hand.
"Please don't."
The two of them lapsed into silence, with Lily still holding on tightly to the ship's wheel.
"Remember when we were little and had a nightmare, Molly would have lit a candle by our beds for us?" he said after some time. Lily laughed slightly and smiled as she reminisced of her childhood.
"I remember that one time you tried to set my hair on fire with that same candle," she said fondly, causing him to blush slightly. "You said that the closer the flame was to your head, the better it would work. She almost skinned you alive for that one."
"Now she's got her own little ones to skin when they do crap like we did," said Gideon. "She just had another little boy. I think we might have to pay her a visit soon. If only to threaten Arthur." The two of them laughed again.
"Come on, Lils; let me take over the wheel for you."
Lily's smile dropped and she tightened her grip on the wheel. "I'm fine, Gideon," she said icily. "I don't need to be babied."
"I wasn't saying - "
"Oh yes you were," she snapped. "I'm not a little girl anymore, Gideon. I can handle myself and a few nightmares aren't going to make me incapable of carry out my duties."
Gideon grabbed her arms and pried them off of the wheel, replacing them with his own. "You should go get some rest, Lily. At the very least, go sit down or something."
Lily glared at him. "You can't tell me what to do; I'm the Captain of this ship."
"I'm telling you as a friend. Frankly, I don't care if you're the Captain or not."
Lily stared at him coldly and disdainfully, her face set. He stared right back at her, masking any traces of emotion that he felt. In the back of her mind, Lily cursed him for having such a good poker face. There was a reason no one ever wanted to gamble with Gideon. Seeing that he was not to be dissuaded, she clenched her jaw and walked away to stand in the middle of the deck. She folded her arms and had to content herself with glaring at his back.
A few minutes later she caught sight of the three boys. She smiled slightly at both Remus and Sirius, but made a face of utmost displeasure at James' arrival, one which he returned most wholeheartedly.
"Morning," she said cheerily. "I trust that there were no incidents last night?"
"Right as rain, Captain," replied Sirius, stepping forward. "Right as rain."
Lily laughed. "Charming as usual, Mr. Black," she told him demurely before jumping into what she had planned out for them to do today. Since this was their first time doing anything aboard a pirate ship, Lily thought it would be best to start them out on something rather easy: knot tying. She showed them how to do several knots that would be useful to know aboard any ship and, around the time lunch rolled around, all three of them had mastered at least two out of the five she showed them.
"That's great," she told them earnestly as they paused for lunch. "You can continue after."
Once they had left, she escaped to her office to pour over some maps. After years of being at sea, Lily had collected a vast amount of maps of all kinds. She sat behind her desk with a quill clasped loosely in her hand as she perused a very old one. Along with being wrinkled and torn at the edges, it was also severely outdated and had scratches and marks all over it. Lily valued it more than any of the others. This was her personal map. Each time they visited a port, she would write down her thoughts of it on the map, as well as put in new ports that popped up and scratch out the old ones that no longer existed.
She carefully watched their proposed path, from the south eastern end of England all the way to Wales on the lesser travelled route. Sure, the seas were a bit rougher and it took a few days longer, but she did not mind if it meant that her crew would be kept safe.
The ship rocked from side to side, a bit rougher than normal, causing some things to fall off her shelves. With a sigh, Lily got up and started repacking. One of the things she found was a tightly corked bottle with a bit of old parchment folded inside it. She smiled wryly.
"I'd forgotten about you," she told the bottle as she rolled it between her hands. "It was like all the trouble you caused just disappeared. But then again, you are the product of the four Marauders combined, so I would guess that trouble is your middle name." She placed it at the back of the shelf and went back to her cartography.
The next few days went similarly. Lily would get up in the morning (sometimes early, sometimes not, depending on if she had any nightmares or not), walk the entire ship and chat with her crew members before waking up the men (her preferred method of waking up Potter being to douse him with water and then engage in a yelling match that would sufficiently wake up the others. Two birds; one stone.) After they had breakfast, she would usher them up on deck where she would show them some new technique. Some days they practiced knotting; she taught them how to read a map, made them clean the ship from top to bottom and then had them do laps to build up their endurance. She noticed that Remus was the slowest out of them all when it came to the running, and the poor boy could barely catch his breath. Lily had not taught them how to sword fight yet; she wanted them to not only be good fighters, but to also have the stamina to carry on. It made no sense being extremely skilled at sword fighting only to grow tired mere minutes after beginning.
"Captain! I think you might want to see this!" Jack yelled from the crow's nest just before he clambered down. He tossed Lily a spyglass, which she deftly caught as he pointed at something behind them.
Focusing, she could just barely make out the silhouette of another ship way off into the distance, causing her to frown.
"What do we do?" he asked anxiously.
Lily looked back at the ship, which was hardly even visible to the naked eye and said, "Nothing. Just keep going."
"But Captain," he protested. "This can't be a coincidence; not many likely to venture in these parts."
"Be that as it may," she said, pasting a smile on her face. "We don't do anything. They're still much too far to do anything to us. Go back up there and keep watch." She handed him back the spyglass.
After a moment's hesitation, Jack nodded and scaled the riggings, resuming his perch in the little wooden basket and leaving Lily with a million thoughts swirling in her mind. She glanced over her shoulder again before furrowing her brow.
"Are we going to be attacked?" a new voice said, jolting her out of her reverie.
She spun around to see none other than Sirius Black standing before her with a faint expression of worry marring his otherwise handsome features. Out of the three of them, Sirius had been the most receptive to being on the ship. Remus was as well, but he rarely displayed the enthusiasm that Sirius did. Again, Lily wondered why, and made a mental note to ask him about it later. As for James … well, saying that he and the Captain had some disagreements would be an understatement. They fought over everything.
"I don't know," she confessed. "They might be a passing ship, but in this area that's a bit worrisome. However, they're far away and hopefully will be gone soon."
Sirius nodded. "Don't you … don't you think that you should teach us how to defend ourselves?"
Lily shot him a sharp look. "I need more than a day to turn you lot into decent fighters. If I try anything now, you'll probably have a greater chance of killing yourselves than the enemy."
"But why didn't you teach us before?" he pressed.
"Because you might've killed me in my sleep," she stated, in a matter of fact manner.
"No, we wouldn't," replied Sirius, genuinely sounding shocked.
Lily scoffed. "Potter might. He'd do anything to get off this bleeding ship."
"That's not true -" he began.
"He hates me, Black," she said wryly, glancing at him once more before turning to the sea. He was quiet for a while and when Lily looked behind her again, he was gone.
She kept an eye out for the rest of the day, watching to see if the other ship had gotten any closer to them. Lily would assume that, at this time, they did not know that they had been spotted, and she hoped that that would give her crew a better chance if it did come to a fight.
By the time night was falling, however, it appeared that the ship following them was no longer a coincidence.
With a sigh, she called all the crew members on deck and told them of the situation.
"Prepare to fight," she said. "Gid, I want you at the wheel when the time comes. Jack, you're one of the better fighters. I'll need to switch you with someone …" The Captain continued giving orders and a good few minutes had passed before she allowed them to go.
"What about us?" someone said, just as she turned her back.
Lily glanced and saw the three men standing there and sighed. "Go back to your room and do not come out, no matter what. Right now, you're a liability; not an asset."
She left no room for argument, having stalked off in the direction of her cabin the moment the last word left her lips.
Lily knew that she ought to be sleeping, or, at the very least, lying down to get some sort of rest, but instead, here she was, back pouring over her maps while spinning the key in her hands again. There was a low chance of any attack happening right now; they were far behind them and the wind was not at its strongest, but Lily was still too wired for sleep. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought that after nearly five years of being on a ship, she would never be calm before heading in to a fight.
As she predicted, they were not attacked during the night and most of the crew had slept soundly, waiting impatiently for the first cannon to sound. The ship was no longer a blurry smudge on the horizon, but instead very visible behind them and unfortunately out of their firing range.
"They've gotten onto our wind," Fabian called.
"Shit," Lily cursed. From the wheel, she could hear Gideon echo her sentiments. Finding their wind meant that it was only a matter of time before the caught up to The Phoenix. The Captain looked up at the man stationed in the crow's nest.
"They've got no flag, Cap'n," he yelled down at her, causing her to swear once more as she began pacing.
"Turn her around," Lily said abruptly, as an idea struck her.
Gideon looked at her, wide-eyed. "What?"
"Turn her around," she repeated firmly. "They are starting to get on my nerves. Everyone prepare for attack!"
Crew members scurried around, some unsheathing their swords while some retired below deck to prep the cannons. Lily gave a quick glance to make sure that Sirius and the other two were not on deck, but safely tucked away several floors under, not in any obvious danger.
"Fire!" she yelled, and the first round of cannons sounded as the air quickly became filled with the scent of gun powder. None hit the other ship, but it did raise a fair deal of water. The two ships continued sending cannonballs at each other until they were close enough.
The ship rocked beneath her feet and Lily gritted her teeth, finally pulling out her sword.
"Prepare to board!"
Several planks of wood were quickly secured and Lily led her men into the battle.
The other crew, though they outnumbered hers three to one, were obviously inexperienced. Of course, there were a few experienced, older pirates who had most likely been the ones to orchestrate this attack, but Lily was confident that her men could have easily handled them.
She had tied up her hair so that instead of flowing freely in a tangle of curls, it was tightly bounded to her head. She moved in a blur, hardly giving her opponent time to recover before disarming them. Despite her ruthless reputation, she did not kill that many people, mainly because every time she succeeded in disarming one, four descended upon her. She managed beautifully, and could say in all honesty that even though she wore nothing to disguise it; many did not notice that she was a woman. The ones that did, well, she made sure to quickly dispose of them.
Right then, Lily was battling with a man that was at least three times her size. He was definitely stronger than her and had been in many fights if the numerous amounts of scars that covered his body were anything to go by. But Lily was faster than he was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that a few of them had broken away and were running across to her ship where they slipped downstairs. With a jolt, she remembered that Remus and they were down there, unable to defend themselves.
She redoubled her efforts to escape that man's clutches, but it proved difficult.
"The Dark Lord sends his regards, dearie," the man wheezed a laugh as he swiped at her head.
Lily ducked and she felt her blood run cold at the name. This slip in concentration was exactly what he was waiting for, as he struck out at her again. She jumped back, but not fast enough as the sword cut through the skin of her right arm. Lily bit her lip to keep from crying out and feinted to the side to avoid another incident. Luckily for her, that was not her sword arm so she was still able to fend for herself. She kicked out and caused the man to trip and, despite the blood trickling down the length of her arm, brought the sword down with all her might, effectively cutting him off.
"Tell the Dark Lord that the Red Headed Horror says hi," she snarled coldly at his lifeless body before breaking out in a run to get back over to her ship.
James was not sure how long the battle went on for, but for him it felt like an eternity.
The Phoenix was silent, the fight having taken place on the other ship, but for once, he might have welcomed the noise of the rowdy pirates. At least then he would know what was going on.
All of a sudden, he heard the muffled thump of footsteps on the top deck. It sounded like it was only a few men had returned - probably four at most. He could hear them stomping down the steps and yelling amongst themselves. He did not recognise their voices and, according to Remus and Sirius' expression, neither did they.
"Do you -" Remus began.
"No," said James.
"What about L -" he pressed.
"I don't know," James replied swiftly.
The three men stayed silent as they listened to doors opening and slamming shut as the men cursed and jeered. Finally, they reached their room and flung open the door. There were three men, all looking rather young, with tattoos and, what James was most focused on, swords.
At first, neither party said anything and simply stared at the other until the pirates yelled and attacked.
Sirius reacted the fastest, hitting the one nearest to him with the heavy tray that usually had the water jug on it. He dazedly stumbled backwards before bumping into the wall and slipping down. James threw a punch to the other one while Remus dodged the last one, who had swung his sword out towards him, missing his neck by inches. James managed to punch his arm, but it seemed to make the pirate want to kill him even more than it injured him. Sirius was helping Remus with the other, who looked as though his approach was to swipe at everything that moved.
They did not get hurt, but they were not making any progress either. James could easily see that Remus was tiring, his movements becoming sloppy and leaving room for error. The pirate managed to just nick his collarbone - a relatively shallow graze - when Lily burst into the room.
Her hair was coming undone and one of her shirt sleeves was stained red, causing James' stomach to roll uncomfortably as he thought of what happened to her arm. His distraction almost caused him to get beheaded. With a yelp, he kicked the man in the shin, sending him to the floor.
Lily had taken over from Sirius and Remus and was now battling the pirate. It was fairly easy for her, having him disarmed and knocking him out by hitting him with the butt of her sword in a matter of seconds, sending him crumpling to the floor. By now, the collar of Remus' shirt was stained red with blood and he looked sickly pale.
She had moved on to her next victim, sending him sprawling to the floor, bleeding slightly within seconds as well. James watched her strong and concise movements with awe. If this was how she moved with an arm injury, then he could only imagine how she would be at her full peak. A definite force to be reckoned with.
Lily stood in the middle of the room, heaving slightly as she took in the scene. Three unconscious bodies, and three unscathed but frightened men.
"You're bleeding," she said, noticing the blood that bordered Remus' neckline. She ripped piece of her already torn shirt and wadded it up for him, wiping away the blood. She frowned when she realised that it was not stopping.
"What - oh," she said, finally understanding. Lily looked up in to his clear grey eyes and spoke softly. "You're a bleeder."
He nodded hesitantly.
"Well that certainly explains a lot." Lily looked around for a moment before her eyes finally landed on the bottle of rum and the water jug. She poured out some water and dipped the cloth in it to clean the cut before wiping it through with the alcohol, ignoring his muffled cries of pain.
"Keep that pressed down there for the next hour," she ordered him.
"Thank you," he told her, sincerely.
"It's nothing," Lily shrugged. "I can't have you bleeding to death, now can I?"
"And what about you, Miss Evans?" asked Remus, looking at her arm. "Who's going to take of you so that you don't bleed to death?"
Lily looked down at her arm as if just noticing it. "I'll live," she smiled. "It's just a scratch."
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'just a scratch,'?" asked James, having realised that he was staring at her.
Her eyes lost the warmth they had once possessed when she was tending to Remus. "I'm fine," she said stiffly.
"Are you sure? It looks... severe," said James. Even he was surprised by the worry in his voice.
Lily regarded him oddly. "I'm fine," she said once more, though not as frostily as the previous, before turning on her heel and walking out. Just before she left she said, "I'll have someone come by and get rid of them." She gestured to the three bodies. James had almost forgotten about them while he was observing her.
"You should get some sleep; I'll bring you something to eat later," she gently told Remus. With those last words, she walked out, shutting the door softly behind her.
Yes, Snape will be in this story, no we won't be seeing him for quite some time. I'll be putting a little twist on the tale of the Marauders as well, and so more of Lily's history might pop up sooner rather than later. Also, the term 'bleeder' is just local slang for someone who's haemophiliac (i.e. their blood doesn't clot properly so little scrapes and cuts can actually cause them to bleed to death.) We use it where I'm from, so I'm not 100% sure if it's British, but if you could tell me, that'll be brill.
Until next time :)
