Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Harry Potter
A Change in the Tide
Chapter 7: Life on Deck
There was a light tapping on her door, signifying that it was time to get up. She got up, got changed and readied herself for her day's work.
Once she had finished, she opened her door to see Peter standing before her. "Good morning, Miss Evans. Did you sleep well?"
"As a matter of fact, I did, Peter," the girl answered sweetly. Lily followed Peter as he led her to the men's cabins. She entered the first one and set off to cleaning without being asked.
"Miss Evans, I'm leaving now. You know where to find me when you are done," Peter told her.
Lily continued her work. Over the course of a month, she had greatly improved her work ethic. Now, it only took her about two minutes to tidy every man's room. She realized that these men were pirates and they did not expect their rooms to be completely spotless. They were pleased with her work even if she didn't do a great job. Lily had asked Sirius several weeks ago about what the men thought of her work on the ship.
"We are all very happy to have you aboard. The ship has never been cleaner and the food has improved slightly since. Your work has been greatly appreciated."
Before Lily had been taken aboard this ship, the men were in charge of keeping everything. One could only imagine how filthy the ship was.
Once Lily had finished cleaning each man's room, she collected the days laundry and set off washing them. It took her a little more than an hour to thoroughly wash every man's clothes and hang them up to dry. Lily then headed towards the upper deck to find Peter. He was helping a man tie up some ropes.
"Hey, Peter, I finished."
Peter looked up from his work and nodded. "I suppose I do not need to inspect you any longer as you have been doing fine work. Now you can go help George in the kitchen."
Lily nodded and then left to go visit George. George had become a great friend to her. They chatted while they cooked together. Lily entered the kitchen, grabbed an apron and joined George by the stove.
"Hi, George."
George glanced sideways at her and smiled. "It's good to see you, Miss Evans."
"So, what are we cooking today?"
"Well, I took your advice about trying something new and… well I looked through this here cookbook," he pointed at the large book on the counter next to them. "and I found this," he pointed to a page that at the top, in bolded black letters, read Beef Stew. Lily looked over the recipe. It looked really good, and they had all of the supplies. Lily grabbed a carrot and a knife and set to work.
While Lily was chopping the carrots, and George was mixing the ingredients together, the two made small talk.
"So George, how long have you been a pirate for?" Lily asked. She had been very curious and had longed to know the answer to that question.
George paused from stirring the stew. "Well, it's been a long time. 'Bout thirty years, I'd say."
"Why did you become a pirate?" Lily continued her interrogation.
"I had no family left. My wife and daughter died from disease and my parents had long since been dead. I didn't know where to turn. Eventually, a group of pirates attacked my small town. I was captured but asked to join the men and that's how I became a pirate."
"Really? I'm so sorry about your family."
"It's alright. I know that wherever they are, they are happy and that makes me happy. Ya know? Besides, the crew of this ship is my new family now. I have a new life and I am pleased with it. You are free to live life with no worries."
They finished the stew and served it for lunch. All of the pirates were surprised to see a new meal on their plates but were pleased with the better tasting food.
Lily continued with her chores. She cleaned the deck and then helped George cook dinner. When she was done, she went up on the upper deck and sat there on the floor, looking at the dark, clear sky. She sighed as she felt the sea breeze tickle her cheek and as she breathed, she could smell the salty air. At first, Lily had hated the smell of the ocean, but it was growing on her. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up, Lily saw both Remus and Sirius. They sat down beside her.
"Hey," Lily said.
"How was your day, Miss Evans," Remus asked politely.
"It was the same as usual, although I was able to talk to George about his life. He is usually asking me questions, but today, I was asking them."
"Well, George is a very interesting man. I have known him for quite a few years now, and he still has several stories to share," Sirius said.
There was a pause before Lily asked, "So how was your day?"
Every night, after they finished their job, both Sirius and Remus met up with Lily and they talked until it was time for bed. Over the past month, all three of them had become great friends.
"Same old," Remus said. "There hasn't been much to do lately on board. Since our last attack, there hasn't been any action… Pirates live for excitement."
"Yeah, it has been rather boring, but it's the captain's orders," Sirius agreed.
"What? The captain ordered you to be bored?" Lily asked, confused.
Both men chuckled at her question. "He didn't order us to be bored. What I meant was that his instructions made us bored," said Sirius.
"And what were those instructions?"
"We were just told to boss around the other men, really. We have to keep order for the captain," Remus informed her.
"Why doesn't the captain keep order? That's supposed to be his job."
"You have an awful lot of questions tonight, Miss Evans. The captain has his reasons, alright," Sirius responded, slightly irritated.
"So, you got any stories to share tonight?" Lily looked at the men, and for the rest of the night, they sat there and shared their past.
James walked out of his cabin and leaned over the edge of his ship. All around him was darkness. He could just make out the dark water below him. In a few minutes, Sirius would report to him, giving him the day's report. They would briefly chat and then they would both retire for the night.
As James inspected his ship from afar, he saw Sirius and Remus talking to a woman. The woman was Miss Evans. James felt a faint jab of jealousy as he stared at the three. Every night, the three sat together and talked. They were great friends. James was losing his friends to this woman. That made his hatred for her grow even more.
James returned to his cabin when he saw Sirius get up and head towards his way. He sat down at his desk and took out his maps. They had been heading away from England so that the risks of being captured would be less. Right now, James planned to go to Southern Asia and hang out there for awhile. Currently, they were somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
There was a knock on the door. It was Sirius. "Come in," James said.
Sirius walked over to James' desk and sat down. There was an awkward silence before James decided to talk. "So, what is your report?"
"Well, today everything went well. We had no trouble with the men and we are on course. According to Peter, there are no enemies in sight." "That's good. You may go now." James didn't even look up from his work once.
Sirius eyed his friend. 'What is up with him?' "That's all we are going to talk about?" James nodded. Sirius was furious and growing very suspicious. "What?" Sirius' voice began to raise in volume. "There is something wrong with you. For the past few weeks, we haven't talked. It's all business. What happened? Why are you ignoring me, huh? I want to know."
James was startled by Sirius' outburst, but it only angered hi more. "What is wrong with me? Is that what you want to know? I want to know why you and Remus are hanging out with that girl more than me. It's like she has replaced me. That's what's up. Okay?" James was shaking with anger.
Sirius looked at his friend. He was shocked and couldn't come up with any words to defend himself. After a minute of silence, James told Sirius to leave.
Sirius looked at the door, but made no move to it. "Why do you dislike her so?"
"Miss Evans?"
"She is an amazing girl once you get to know her," Sirius interrupted James. "She is very interesting and knowledgeable, quite like Remus actually. Not to mention her kindness. You really should talk to her."
"I hate her," James whispered. "You don't hate her. You don't even know her. You're just jealous that we are spending more time with her than you. The truth is, Remus and I feel bad for her and we are only trying to make her feel welcome on this ship. We would spend more time with you if you were acting normal and not like a jealous prat."
"I am not jealous of the girl."
"Then why don't you like her?" Sirius asked.
"She has a perfect life. She was raised as a rich snob with money and happiness. She has a family who loves her. I was a poor orphan with hardly any friends. I've lost so many people I used to love. She has it easy. Not to mention, she is the daughter of our enemy.
"We don't know how her life was before she joined this ship, but obviously her life isn't any better right now. You see, you took her away from her friends and family."
"Well, I guess we are even now, but that doesn't make me like her anymore."
"You should really give her a chance, James."
James decided not to answer. Sirius supposed that James was torn so he didn't want to push his friend anymore. "Hey, I promise to spend less time with Miss Evans and more time with you," Sirius said, trying to mend their friendship.
James was still quiet, but finally spoke up. "I'm sorry for being a self-centered git. You don't have to sacrifice your time with Miss Evans just to make me happy. Maybe you could properly introduce me to her and then we could all hang out together."
"Yeah, but first, I'll have to get Miss Evans to agree to it, and she can be very stubborn sometimes."
The men laughed and shook hands. "I'll see you tomorrow then, bright and early," Sirius said.
"Goodnight, Sirius," James said in a much better mood than earlier that day.
A/N: Sorry for such a late update. I have been extremely busy. I cannot make promises of weekly updates, but I will try my best to update often.
This chapter was kind of hard to write. I have been working on it for a few weeks. It doesn't have much action in it. The next chapters from now on until the end of the story will be much more exciting.
Don't forget to review.