Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 15: Defense

James stared at Lily in silence. 'She can't be serious.'

"Lily, what are you talking about?"

"I want to learn the ways of a pirate, James." She knew James wasn't very pleased with her reply.

"Lily, why?… No!" James shook his head in confusion.

"No what?" Lily huffed.

"No, you are not going to learn how to act like a pirate."

Lily had known that James was going to be angry but was shocked by his furious expression. His face was red, his eyes wide, and his fists scrunched up tightly.

Lily took a moment to grab hold of herself. After a minute of silence, Lily calmly voiced her question. "Why can't I?"

Had the circumstances been different, James would have laughed at Lily's remark. It reminded him of when they were kids.

"Lily, you're a lady. Ladies don't act like pirates. It's not proper."

"I don't care, James."

"No, Lily. That's final."

Lily was at a lost as to what to say. Her mouth silently opened and shut a few times before she shouted, "It's not final James. I… I don't want to be a lady, James. Please…"

Lily was interrupted by James, "Lily, like I said; life as a pirate has it's ups and downs."

"I know James. Why else do you think I made my decision to learn how to be a pirate in the first place. I think it would be fun."

"See Lily," James started to say, "that's where you are wrong. Being a pirate is not fun. You think of this as some sort of game, don't you? Lily, it's not all fun. We have to work hard to keep this ship running smoothly. We have to constantly steal from others to make a living. Not only that, but there are many fights that end in death. That is no place for a lady."

"James, when are you going to see. I don't want to be a lady. I don't want to be stuck up and proper all the time. It is so boring. I don't want to have to dress up for special occasions or look out for potential suitors all my life. James, I want to break away from that." Lily just realized that she was not happy with her life in England. She loved her parents dearly, but she realized that that life had no adventure.

"Lily, you will regret this decision for the rest of your life as I have. In England, though I was an orphan, I had honor and people treated me with respect. I will never be able to rewind what has happened. Sure, life as a pirate suits me well, but I can't help but miss how things used to be. I didn't have a choice though, you do."

"Yes, and you have shown me how wonderful life as a pirate is."

"Great," James replied sarcastically. "It doesn't matter though because I am not teaching you."

"Well, if you won't teach me the ways of a pirate, will you at least teach me to defend myself in the face of danger."

James pondered over this for a moment. He immediately made his decision after remembering the last pirate attack where Lily had nearly been raped.

"Fine. We'll start tomorrow."

Lily smiled brightly, feeling victorious. The rest of the night continued normally and Lily and James parted ways to go to sleep.

Lily woke up early the next morning. She was excited for her defense training session with James later that day. She ate breakfast quickly and then made her way to the infirmary.

Remus came to check on her right before lunch time.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily looked up from her work to greet Remus. "Hello, Remus. How are you?"

"I'm well. And you?"

"I'm doing fine."

"That's good. So, James sent me here." Lily nodded in understanding and Remus continued. "He wanted me to tell you that your training session will begin after lunch. You are to meet hi in his cabin."

Once Lily digested the information, she said, "Thank you, Remus."

"Just doing my orders. Have a nice day, Miss Evans."

An hour later, it was time for lunch. Lily headed down to the hall and ate by herself. When she was full, she got up to go see James. When she reached his door, she hesitated. She slowly lifted her hand to knock on his door. She softly rapped at his door and then waited in silence.

James opened the door for her and motioned her inside.

"Hello, James."

"Hello."

Once their greetings were said, Lily studied James' room for a moment. In the back was his bed. It was neatly made and looked as though no one had used it the night before. Then she saw a desk just a few feet in front of her. It was littered with maps and newspaper clippings. Beside the desk was a trash can filled to the top with papers and scraps. On the wall, hung all sorts of weapons. Despite the dangerous weapons surrounding, her Lily felt completely at ease.

"So, do you want to begin now?" James interrupted Lily's thoughts with his question.

"Huh…," Lily shook her head then said, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Uh, okay. I don't exactly know where to start. I suppose I could introduce you to the weapons," James pointed towards his wall.

"Okay."

"Well, first off, we have the cutlass." Here James pulled a sword out of his scabbard and held it out for Lily to see.

"Wow!" Lily said in amazement.

"Yeah, you'll learn how to use this eventually, but I want to start with something else."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"This here is a dagger." James showed her the small knife then continued. "This is an axe, and those there are a bunch of different sized knives. Oh, I've also got those guns over there." James pointed to the far wall.

He pulled her along as he walked there. "These are all a bunch of pistols."

"Wow, there sure are a lot of weapons. Do you use them all?"

James nodded. "Each one helps with different things."

"Oh, and will you teach me to use them all."

"In time, I hope."

It was then that Lily noticed another weapon James had missed. "Hey, what's that." Lily pointed at the larger gun on the wall.

"What? Oh that? That's a musket."

"So which weapon do I get to learn how to use first," Lily said as she eyed the musket with longing.

James noticed Lily's stare and said, "Certainly not with the musket." Lily's smile faltered slightly. "I don't know. Maybe I should start by teaching you to fight with your fists."

"How will that help me if my opponent has a sword."

"Lily, you're just learning defense here." James rolled his eyes.

"I know. What about the daggers. Can I learn to fight with them."

James eyes the daggers carefully. He placed his finger on his chin before saying, "Alright. Let me get you a dagger."

He went to his wall and took down a dagger. He handed it to her and pulled out his own.

"Now, the dagger is a very important weapon. Not only is it valuable when sailing as you can use it to cut ropes and such," at this he smiled at Lily, "but it is also used as a last means of defense when in combat."

Lily listened intently to James' speech. He began by teaching her how to properly hold the knife. Then he showed her how to stand and where the most common attacks are directed.

As the lesson progressed, Lily did not get to actually use the dagger to fight James, but in the two hours she was with him, she learned a lot. "Lily, we'll continue this tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure. Thank you, James," Lily said as she handed James back his dagger.

She left James' cabin and headed back to the infirmary where she would spend the rest of the day.

A/N: Wow, that's the fastest update I have had in a while. I'm hoping to update often this week too, as I have Spring Break.