The Mighty Marauder and the Black Ship

The Houses Competition: Year 11, Round 1

House: Slytherin

Class: History of Magic

Category: Drabble

Prompt chosen:

- [AU] Pirate!AU

Word Count: 799

Warnings: None

Notes: Like what you see? Check out the Mighty Marauder and the Hollow of Eternity (Chapter 5 of Above the Quidditch Pitch) for more Pirate!AU Marauders content!

Of all the places Remus wanted to be at two in the morning, sneaking onto Sirius' father's ship was not one of them. He told Sirius this was a bad idea. James told Sirius it was a bad idea. James had ordered Sirius to stay on the Mighty Marauder, but had Sirius listened? No! Of course not! Sirius wanted to sneak onto his father's ship so Sirius was going to, and of course Remus couldn't let Sirius go be stupid by himself.

Remus joined Sirius in hiding behind a large crate that was sitting on the deck. "What exactly is the plan?" he whispered.

Sirius gave him a look full of his usual disregard for anything logical. "We go to his office, steal some priceless family heirloom—or some gold—and we go back to the Mighty Marauder without getting caught."

Great. Not only were they sneaking onto the lead ship of one of the most powerful merchant fleets in the Caribbean, their entire plan was don't get caught.

"And what if you're wrong and your dad is on the ship?" Remus asked.

Sirius just shrugged and turned back towards the upper deck of the ship. "Then we hightail it out of here," he said. He started across the deck, moving quickly, but quietly. Remus had no idea how such a loud person had mastered the art of sneaking around, and given how little Sirius would say about his childhood, it was probably best he didn't ask.

He followed Sirius across the deck and up the unreasonably ornate staircase. It must cost a fortune to keep the green, black, and silver paint on the railing looking bright. No matter how rich you were, the ocean would still cast waves over your deck in a storm. They approached a door that was painted with the Black family crest and Remus crouched down, scanning the deck for any sign of activity as Sirius picked the lock. The whole ship was quiet; it was a bit unnerving, but Remus brushed off the feeling. Sirius was probably right, Captain Black and his crew were probably enjoying a night on solid land in one of the many establishments that were open along the seafront.

The lock clicked, and Sirius gave Remus a nudge. "I've got it, let's go," he said.

Remus nodded and with one last glance across the deck, he went through the now open door… and bumped right into Sirius' back.

There were no lights on inside the cabin, but the moon was bright enough that Remus could see a man standing across from them. He looked almost exactly like Sirius, except younger and a little less handsome. It was too dark to see, but Remus was sure they had the same dark eyes, and the man stood the same way Sirius did when he was angry. Remus slowly moved his hand towards his sword. There was no way this could end in anything other than a fight.

"What are you doing here, Sirius?" the man asked.

Sirius shrugged, but Remus could see the tension in his shoulders. "Thought I'd pay the old ship a visit," he said.

The man scoffed lightly. "I'm not stupid," he said. "I know you've joined yourself with a pirate crew since you left." His eyes flicked to Remus with a disgusted expression.

"Piracy?" Sirius said, his voice filled with mock offense. "That's a Sirius accusation, Reggie."

So this was Sirius' little brother? Remus should have guessed it by his looks. He was different from what Remus had expected. Sirius had always described him as a soft, easily bendable type boy. That didn't seem like the person that stood across from them at all.

Regulus was silent for a long moment. "I should have you killed for that pun alone," he said, his voice flat and even.

If it had been any less tense of a situation, Remus would have laughed at Regulus' reaction. He glanced at Sirius who had a very self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"So what are you here to steal anyway?" Regulus asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not picky," he said. "Maybe something that would take him a while to notice, but then once he did notice it would consume his every waking thought."

Regulus was silent for another moment, then moved to a cupboard with a glass front. He opened it, and took out a wooden box. "Here," he said, taking out the contents—a metal disk about three inches across—and tossing it to Sirius. "His membership coin for the Sacred Twenty Eight Gentlemen's Club. He won't notice till we're back in London."

Sirius held the coin up to the moonlight. "You know, Reggie, you'd make a pretty good pirate," he said.

Regulus groaned in annoyance. "Get off my ship."

"It's not yours, it's dad's."

"Go!"